


Lavender and Primrose

by acornandroid



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: 'Hearts are compatible' cutscene takes place, AU, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Sex, Kissing, M/M, Post Game, Slight slow burn?, Slow Burn, also simon likes flowers and house plants ill fight you on this, anti android hate groups are still a thing, connor gives dating advice even he doesnt understand, hand sex?, its the hand interfacing sex thing, no one dies okay everyones happy, peaceful ending, simon is stupid
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2019-06-05 16:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15174857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acornandroid/pseuds/acornandroid
Summary: After Simon quite literally ripped out his heart and gave it to Markus, he accepted death. Except Markus had different plans. Now he's repaired and up again, and there is a whole new world to explore. Maybe even the possibility of the one thing he's dreamed about since the moment he welcomed Markus to Jericho.





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 

_ Lavender _ _– considered the symbol of love and devotion_

 

**Therium Pump: Removed**

**_Error 6935 – Status:_ ** **Missing**

**_Shut Down Imminent_ **

**_Shut Dow—_ **

 

 None of their kind exactly knew what came after death. It wasn’t even really ‘death’ in the human sense. They could be shot, broken, and beaten in a way that would cause them to go offline and perhaps never be repaired. ‘Shut down’ was the word they used amongst themselves, for a way of passing like a human would in their sleep. The life just slipping away from them and leaving the blackness to sink in.

            Now, however, with new found humanity coursing through their blue blood and synthetic veins, it started to feel like death in the truest sense.

 

                        It had been a finality he had never experienced, but one he had been ready for. The second Markus arrived to Jericho, Simon had known he was special. He would be the one.

            From the second they spoke. The first time in private. Long, in depth, with feelings so raw and new Simon thought he was breaking through that invisible red barrier of programming all over again.

            From the moment on the rooftop. The look on Markus’ face as they both knew Simon would have to be left behind. The gun pressed into his hands with such a silent edge of desperation he almost had to swat the air to cut through it.

            That moment when he managed to get back. Having waited out the guards and evaded being found. Stripping his LED finally, like a shackle being removed, and tossing it off the roof of the tower. He had repaired his leg with a shoddy operation, but it did enough to help him make it back to Jericho. The look Markus had given him in the hallway. Simon had almost hoped.

            The feeling of Markus yanking him against himself, hugging him in such a way that Simon nearly believed that something else was hidden underneath that synthetic, but achingly real surface.

            One of those moments brought the realization for Simon that he would die a million times over if it meant keeping Markus alive. If it meant keeping their _cause_ alive, but Markus was the cause. Markus was everything that needed to go right in this world.

 

            When he saw him get shot, there was no questions in his mind. He had so readily ripped his beating heart out with such desperation that it nearly physically hurt. Markus had to live, there was no questioning it. He had to stay alive. For everyone, for Simon.

           

The last thought occurred selfishly, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it. The shutdown warnings were already flashing, and Markus was protesting. The heart snapped into place in Markus’ chest with a final push of Simon’s hands.

 

 

 

            The world had gone black, but his life felt like it had meaning. It finally had weight- and with that weight came finality.

 

            Perhaps that was why waking up was so startling.

 

            **_System Reboot_**

**_Progress:_ ** **73%**

**Visuals: _Online_**

****

The ceiling was pure white, matching the walls. Everything was pristine and polished. The table was firm beneath him.

 

            **Sensors: _Online_**

**Feeling Simulation: _Rebooting_**

**** **Feeling Simulation: _Online_**

 

The table was cold beneath his fingers. Simon blinked once, then twice. Everything above him coming into focus slowly as he stared upwards.

 

            **_Progress:_ 99%**

**_Progress:_ Complete**

**Location: _CyberLife Facilities_**

 

A simulated breath was drawn in, lifting his hand to touch his uncovered stomach. There was no dip in his abdomen like there had been when he removed his heart to give to Markus. His heart was replaced, and it was beating. There was an ache at his temple where his LED once was as his memories refreshed, and he felt surprisingly like himself still. Though his fingers weren’t quite responding yet, and neither were his legs. The joints were taking time to come back online after such a hard reboot.

 

“Simon…”

 

            The voice was what drew his attention. Simon turned his head, looking over towards his left. Suddenly, there was Markus, just sitting in the chair beside the table, hunched over like he had been waiting there for a while. Everything had been offline, it was impossible for him to tell how much time had passed. Though Markus looked better than he had last seen him. There were no bullet holes in his clothes. In fact, he was wearing something different.

 

“Markus?” Simon echoed, his voice still disjointed and static as it started functioning once again. It evened out by the next time he spoke, pushing himself to sit up slightly. “We’re….at CyberLife? What’s happened? Did we win—”

 

            There were a million and ten questions cycling through his mind, though he couldn’t quite get them all out. Markus seemed to understand, and offered him a small nod in answer.

 

“Yes. We won. There were…many lost, but we won. It’s been a few months, it took a while to get you repaired. It took longer than I would have liked to find you again to being with.” Markus glanced away as he spoke, as if he were feeling something Simon couldn’t quite put his finger on. Since the moment he had met him, Markus always looked like the weight of the world was on his shoulders, but now it seemed like that weight had tripled in size.

 

“…You brought me here?” Simon glanced around the room again. There were nothing but androids working here now, he noted. That information was filed away for later. “What about the others? Did they make it?”

 

There was a nod from Markus yet again by the time he looked over, studying those different colored eyes that he could get lost in. Which was a strange metaphor, but the more he felt, the more it seemed to fit. Everything about Markus he could easily get lost in.

 

“North, Josh. They’re both alive. Connor as well, he succeeded in bringing more of our people, which helped us secure our victory.” Markus sat up straighter as he spoke, his hands rubbing over his legs and resting on his knees before he folded them over his chest. “The President recognizes us as intelligent life, now. Though there will still be rules and regulations and talks to be made. Now they’re willing to listen and listen peacefully. It’ll…be a long road, but it’s a start. Detroit has been settled to be the first city where androids and humans are permitted to work alongside with equal rights and their own choices.”

 

Simon drew in a deep, unneeded breath. It was a lot of information to process, and he had only just woken up from a hard reboot and a replaced thireum pump. His body, over the time since his deviancy, had grown accustomed to simulating human motions and reactions, any little action that could make him feel more alive.

 

Though nothing had made him feel more alive than dying. The thought crossed his mind almost without him catching it, causing him to frown slightly.

 

Markus seemed to have caught the smallest expression flashing across the blonde’s face, because he leaned forward, concern etched on his own features. “Are you alright, Simon?”

 

“Oh. Yes, I’m fine. That’s good news. It’s progress.” Simon’s eyes flickered back up to the other android, sitting up a little more on the table. “I’m sorry, Markus, you said I’ve been…shut down for a few months?”

 

There was an expression that crossed Markus’ face that Simon couldn’t quite place. He filed it away as the concern and pain he felt towards all of their people that ended up wounded or broken. That was just feelings he had towards everyone, there was no need to get his hopes up.

 

“Yes. About three months, actually.” Markus sounded like he was choosing his words slowly, like he was concealing some thoughts.

 

Simon didn’t press on that subject, choosing another route. Perhaps a selfish question, but he wanted to know nonetheless.

“…and what have you been doing during that time?” His gaze was never failing, studying Markus’ every movement.

 

Markus who drew in a measured breath, as if he was deciding just what to say. “I’ve been in meetings. Diplomatic talks, lobbying with representatives. We get a say now and someone needs to speak for our people, and they seem to listen to me.” He rolled his lips, another habit Simon noticed he had picked up. Little human quirks that Markus was adopting as his own. He loved them.  “...Besides that I’ve been here.”

 

Here as in CyberLife, Simon’s brain supplied. Not here in the sense he had hoped. Here waiting for Simon to wake up. It was a one sided affection. Besides, he was still convinced given the chance Markus would choose North, if he hadn’t already done so in the few months he was out of commission.

 

“Any news on when I’ll be able to be out of here?” Simon ventured, noting the errors he still got while trying to move his legs too much, or trying to wiggle his fingers in a certain way. He felt slightly numb in a strange sense. Parts of his sensors shutting off and then flickering back on, giving a strange simulation of what he could probably easily describe as television static flickering through his limbs.

 

Getting out of here now was a priority. A whole other world was out there. One where they won. As Markus had said, things were set into motion for androids to have equal rights through the city of Detroit. 

 

“It’ll probably still be a little longer. They had to get you started up again to see exactly what else is wrong since you were…without a heart.” There was a hitch in Markus’ words. Had it upset him that much? Simon stored that away for later as well. “But it shouldn’t be _too_ much longer.”

With that, Markus stood up, and started walking around the room. Simon’s eyes tracing his movements as he went. He still walked with the confidence of a leader. It was in the way he held his shoulders, and his chin high. Simon admired that. Without his doing, he started smiling faintly. It went unnoticed as Markus had his back to him.

 

“…I should be going, Simon. I have another meeting tonight.” He turned, looking at the android sitting up on the table. For a brief moment Simon was certain his optics were not working correctly, as it appeared Markus’ mismatched eyes skirted over his body, which was uncovered aside from a pair of snug fitting white shorts. “But I’ll be back in the morning.”

 

Markus stepped over to the tableside, reaching out and placing his hand on Simon’s shoulder. The thierum pump in his chest skipped a pattern, which Simon immediately ran a diagnostic on, but it came up negative. Strange.

 

“Okay.” Simon’s smile returned, genuine and soft. The corner of his eyes crinkled slightly as he did, and he was pleased to see Markus smile faintly in reply as well. “I’ll be here. You know where to find me.”

 

That earned a laugh. Then Markus squeezed his shoulder gently, and let his hand slip away as he headed for the door.

 

Simon sat in the silence, watching him cross by the window to the hallway as he left. Other androids were walking around outside as well, going about daily routines.

 

It wouldn’t be long before an AP700 entered the room, assisting Simon through a few more checks and taking a look to make sure he was in working order.

 

Simon found it hard to focus, too busy playing Markus’ laugh over and over in his head. For a brief moment, the android assisting him found it concerning, thinking there was something wrong with his processing abilities. He shook his head, assuring her that he was fine. It felt like ages until she finally left the room, leaving alone with his thoughts and everything he had stored away for further analysis.

 

So long of hiding. Running away once he had been deemed a Deviant, finding safety in the start of Jericho. There numbers had been small, and they had been frightened. Slowly, they grew. One arriving every few days, then every other day. Then there were periods where a frightened brother or sister would show up in the ship’s hold day after day for nearly a week. A small, mismatched family, all of them with one thing in common. They needed each other, they had found home with each other. Simon had felt that sense of belonging for the first time in his cybernetic life.

 

Then there was Markus. What light there was suddenly got brighter, what hope there was suddenly grew fuller, all in a way that Simon could hardly explain. It took nearly his entirety of knowing him to realize the warmth blossoming in his synthetic chest was love. Pure and real. Terrifying.

 

But with something so genuine came the fear of rejection. The fear growing as he saw how North looked at Markus, knowing that same look behind her eyes. Someone whose affection would more than likely be returned, maybe someone whose affection probably already had been.

With the fear of rejection came pain. Sharp and real in his chest, as if someone had taken a knife to it.

 

Simon closed his eyes, easing back to lie down onto the table once again. His fingers slid and danced over the smooth surface, tracing small patterns he saw behind his blackened optics. They were still jerky motions as best, the rest of his body still not responding properly to what he commanded it to do. The AP700 had said something about therium flow being disrupted for far too long, but he had only been half listening. Besides, Simon had been designed for family assistance, anything medical he knew was that of caring for a child or the common cold. He knew next to nothing about repairing himself. The poor job he had done to fix his own leg had been testament to that. 

 

Another memory surfaced. If he kept his eyes closed he could almost replicate the touches. Something was off, they were never quite close to the real thing, but they were something to hold to.

 

_Markus’ hands were warm and solid against his leg. Simon now sitting on a crate in the middle of Jericho. Everyone else had retired for the night, no one else knew Simon had survived just yet. Markus insisting they wait until morning._

_Markus who was quieter than normal, with silent pain hiding behind those eyes._

_“I don’t know how you managed to do this without damaging yourself further.” The tone, though still flat, suggested that Markus meant it more or less as a weak attempt at a joke. It got Simon to smile. It always got him to smile._

_“I had to stop the bleeding. Fire was the only option.” The android shrugged, making a face of discomfort as Markus popped his leg out of the socket and removed it entirely, sliding it out of his pant leg. The limb went plastic and pure white, save for the stained blue around the damage, still sparking higher up on the thigh._

_“Remind me to teach you how to fix yourself sometime. Sooner would actually be better than later.” Markus spoke softer, his movements still gentle as he pressed a new leg back into place, sitting back finally. “Okay. Give it a try.”_

_Simon rotated the ankle, then bent his knee, then stood up._

_“Perfect. All in working order.” He smiled, “Thank you, Markus.”_

_Markus stood, his hand on Simon’s shoulder once again. He squeezed firmly, then pulled him in and hugged the other android once again. Simon felt him mutter something against his shoulder, but his audio processors did not pick it up._

_“Of course, Simon.” That part he did hear. Soft and warm as Markus pulled back, both hands on his shoulders now. “Welcome home.”_

Simon’s eyes opened suddenly, his optics coming back online and taking in the room. He had spent too long replaying that memory. It took a moment or two to realize that his own fingers were pressed against his leg where the bullet hole had once been.

 

A sigh passed his lips, and he rested his head back, deciding that staring at the ceiling was a better option. No use replaying memories now and making himself sad over it. It would just make it all the more crushing when Markus would come in here with North tagging along, telling Simon all about how they were together now. Simon would nod and smile. Just be happy for North. She deserves it, she is like a sister to him.

 

Maybe Markus would come back tonight, after whatever meeting it was that he was heading to. Maybe he would come back and sit beside Simon, telling him anything and everything and Simon would soak in every word.

 

Simon cut his thoughts off immediately. It was better to stop this daydreaming while he was ahead. Markus had said he would be back in the morning, and Markus always stuck to his word.

 

The morning felt like a million years away, even though his internal clock told him it was only sixteen hours away until the start of the next day. Time used to be such a simple and linear concept before he had developed emotions, and hopes, and dreams. Now it could drag on where hours felt like days, and days felt like years. Something Simon was not looking forward to.

 

So, despite his own internal self scolding, he closed his eyes again. If he had nothing else to do here then why not just dream? Even though it would end in that empty longing echoing in his plastic chest. Better to dream, than to not dream at all.

 

Simon sighed, his fingers circling small patterns on the table top again. He shifted through his memory, listening to the thrum of the theirum pump in his chest, and started from the beginning.

 

_“Welcome to Jericho.”_

           


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

_ Primrose _ _– The sentiment of not being able to live without a partner, usually comes with young love._

“Do you think it is possible for our kind to go mentally insane from boredom?” Simon questioned, rather sarcastically. It had been a month after he had woken up, and they were still in the process of replacing parts that needed to be replaced and fixing little damages here and there. The problem with having no thirium circulation meant that it took a while of the pump being back on before it was easier to tell what pieces had been permanently damaged.

 

Simon swore if they replaced one of his fingers one more time he was going to lose it.

 

There was a huff of a laugh from Markus across the room. He was sliding his fingers over a book he had brought with him, skimming the next page before laying it in his lap. “You’re so close, Simon. Probably just a few days more, you can make it through that.”

 

While he wasn’t smiling physically, Simon could see the amusement in his eyes, which was enough to get the blonde to smile immediately in return. “Says the one who gets to leave here for a while and come back when he wants to.”

 

Over the past month, Simon had learned a few things about how the world had changed since the revolution. All of his knowledge either came from television or from Markus himself.

 

CyberLife had been more or less converted into a hospital for their kind. It had been wholly handed over to android control, which seemed fitting, as it was their birthplace and production facility. It gave them access to previously inaccessible repairs, without human discretion. It was that change that had saved Simon’s life, after losing his heart. And although there was still the possibility of death for their kind, if they were broken and shattered beyond even android repair, that window of severity had gotten smaller and smaller still.

 

During his stay, Markus had kept his promise. He had returned the next morning, filling Simon in on every little thing that happened during the meeting. The new laws they were working on, specifically right now the outline for employment. It needed to ensure equal rights, but at the same time humans couldn’t be fully shut out from jobs for something an android could do a million times better. It was a messy but necessary process. Simon eagerly listened to everything, chiming in every now and again with his own suggestions.

 

Simon hung on every word, and he told himself it wasn’t just because it was Markus who was saying these things. Though if it was anyone else he wouldn’t be paying such intense _close_ attention. It would be attention nonetheless, because of the cause, but it mattered all the more coming from that voice that could calm flood waters in Simon’s opinion.

 

The blonde was sitting up on the table in the room he was now all too familiar with, running through an exercise the nurse had given him, touching every single finger to his thumb, then cycling back through the movements again. It was to get circulation flowing again, she had explained. Now it had become more of a little habit than anything. Something to do to keep his hands occupied so he wouldn’t do anything stupid like reach out and try and thread his fingers with Markus’ own.

 

North had visited once, though it was conveniently without Markus, which was something for Simon took note of. Perhaps it was the nicety of not wanting to shove their relationship in Simon’s face. That was something he appreciated, it would save him the heartache that was now all too familiar.

 

She had stayed and spoken to him with a formality he hadn’t entirely experienced with her before. They had been closer before the revolution, now it felt like there was some sort of a wedge between them, an invisible barrier neither of them could place. Or maybe North could place it, and Simon was just deciding to ignore it. It made it easier that way.

 

He had seen her run into Markus as she was leaving, both of them talking for a short moment in front of the window of Simon’s room. He had watched them, not knowing what they were saying, but the touch of North’s hand to Markus’ arm was enough to get him to look away. The smile on his face was immediate and forced when Markus had finally entered the room, Simon insisting that everything was fine.

 

However, now was not the time for pining thoughts. Now was the time to just talk to Markus and enjoy what moments they had together. He could be selfish in that aspect. To be selfish was something of human nature, right? A human nature that he now felt, and a nature that made him feel alive.

 

“Here. We should get you to walk around again.” Markus’ voice drew Simon out of his thoughts. The touch that was suddenly against his arm caught most of his attention as well, more of it than it should have.

 

Simon got to his feet with the other’s assistance. The way Markus’ arm looped through Simon’s made his heart skip another beat, a sensation he was now familiar with and knew was not an error. It just happened every time Markus touched him like he was something special. Even though Simon knew it was just happening because of concern, because Markus was like that with everyone. Again- he could be selfish for a short while.

 

“Are we doing the exact one thousand, seventeen steps it takes to cross the entirety of this floor or are you taking me on a different route this time.” Simon teased, thrilled that it earned a smile.

“No, we’re changing it up a little. Can’t have you going insane with your boredom.” Markus’ thumb brushed against Simon’s bare arm, and his heart soared.

 

At least he was dressed in a t-shirt and sweats now, it felt less like he was being put together for the first time all over again, and more like he was a functioning being with feelings. It was the small things.

 

“Lead the way then.” Simon took the first few steps, gathering his footing. It was easier now than before, but he still had to get himself going.

 

Lead the way Markus did. This time, instead of just inside the building itself, they walked out. It was no longer snowing, Simon noted. Of course it wouldn’t be, the snow was four months ago now-- before he had shut down. Instead, spring had begun. This was decidedly Simon’s favorite season. He remembered vaguely the family he had once lived with, taking the two children out to the park in the warmth of spring.

 

It was on his first outing after being purchased that he realized, with a small startling concern, that he liked all the plants. It hadn’t been in his programming to like something, let alone stare at the flowers, or cup water in his hands and pour it on one that seemed just a little too dry. That had been his first red flag to his emotions, and certainly not the last.

 

Their walk led them to a small area outside with a few lunch tables. It had been a functioning space for when the previous human employees of the CyberLife Tower would take their breaks. Simon paused by one of the tables, leaning against it for support in case his legs decided to lock up. It was there that Markus let go of his arm, and it took every ounce of his self-control not to pull him back, or physically show any disappointment. That would only make things messy.

 

Cybernetic bees hovered across a few of the flowers close by the tables. Simon decided upon watching those instead, which offered an escape from Markus more than likely noticing his staring. He remembered hearing that there had once been living versions of these creatures, but now they only existed in captivity. It was a shame, he would have liked to see a few. Maybe one day, if things had settled down enough he could.

 

“You don’t even have a LED anymore and I can still see you processing.” Markus’ voice penetrated his thoughts, causing Simon to look over where the android was standing just a little in front of him and to the left. The sunlight framed him just right, making Markus look every bit as otherworldly as he was in Simon’s mind.

Simon laughed quietly, looking down, then over at the robotic creatures again. “I was just thinking…what I would like to do should everything calm down.”

 

“And what is that?” Markus pressed, his arms folded over his chest and his head tilting. Simon tried to ignore how he could feel those mismatched eyes on him as if they could see through him. He tried desperately to ignore how he wished that look meant something more than Markus’ general care for all of their kind around him.

 

“I remember reading once…about bees. I would like to see some. Not these ones, but ones that are alive, that used to exist to pollinate flowers and plants. Apparently, the Earth used to be much greener.” Simon spoke, pressing his lips together for a short moment. “They’re gone now, though. Only exist in captivity, and CyberLife created these, to get the jobs done that were left behind.”

The blonde drew in a slow breath. Perhaps he didn’t mean to get so deep with a conversation about bees of all things, but here he was.

“…They still manage to succeed at making something beautiful.” He looked back up at Markus again, noting that he was still staring at him.

 

Markus crossed over to him, leaning back against the table as well and finally following Simon’s gaze to the plants. “You like them? The plant life, I mean.”

 

Simon nodded, his fingers twitching against the table of their own accord. “I do. I’ve always found it interesting. If I think about it was the first time I realized I was…something more.” His brow creased slightly, realizing he hadn’t really talked about this with anyone. Then again, Markus was always easy to talk to. “It was something so out of the ordinary. It was unprogrammed and… _raw_. I liked something simply because _I_ liked it, and it made me feel as if I was more than…plastic and parts and code.”

 

Sometime during his explanation, Markus had turned to look at him again. He was staring at Simon with that intensity-- He almost screamed at him to stop, because if only Markus knew how that made his heart ache, and how Simon wished it meant what he wanted it to.

 

“…Carl told me to paint.” Markus started, slowly, looking back ahead after a moment. “But not paint what I saw, but what I felt. He encouraged me to express myself, and he always had. That was when I first began to realize that I was more than parts as well. I saw myself with an emotional mind for the first time, and not with just coding.”

 

“Carl? Your owner?” It was Simon’s turn to look at him now, curiosity on his features.

 

“…More of a father.” Markus met his gaze. If one looked close enough, that invisible weight on Markus’ shoulders seemed to increase. It was subtle in the way he held himself. It was what made Simon want to reach out and hold him in return, as if he could somehow physically take some of that underlying sadness away and make the entire world a better place, if only for a moment.

 

Simon didn’t say anything. He didn’t have to, Markus just continued as if the silent question had been voiced.

 

“He died, a short while after the fight was over.” His voice grew quieter, and he looked away yet again. “It’s a shame…I would have liked for him to meet you.”

 

Simon swallowed hard, the motion unneeded. If only Markus knew how much Simon had wanted that to mean something. He closed his eyes for a short moment, his fingers twitching again. Simon didn’t speak until he opened them, needing something to slam him back down to Earth. So maybe it was with that sudden self-destructive tendency that he voiced the next question.

 

“I’m sorry. Did he…meet North at least?” Simon didn’t look at him. He couldn’t. Though he did see Markus look at him out of the corner of his eye.

 

“…I think he saw her once, in passing. I went by there when the fighting was over. We needed somewhere to stay, and it was the closest to where we could set out looking for you.” Markus’ tone seemed slightly confused, but Simon swore he was misinterpreting it. “Simon, I don’t see why—”

While he was certain the finish to that sentence would be the end of his emotional world, his body decided to save him by suddenly locking up at the knees. Simon very nearly collapsed but managed to scramble to catch himself against the table at the last second. “ _Shit-_ “

 

In a second, Markus was on him, lifting Simon up before hooking one arm beneath his stiff knees and the other around his back, hoisting the blonde android into his arms. Maybe it was both a blessing and a curse. Simon didn’t get to hear whatever it was Markus was going to tell him that would end his world, but at the same time he was more or less nestled against Markus’ chest. Again, selfish.

 

“Sorry. I still don’t think the last repair on the wires went all too correctly. They said something about seeing where the flow was going—” Simon’s fingers gripped at Markus’ sleeve.

 

“Don’t apologize. It’s fine, Simon. Let’s just get you back inside.” Markus shifted his hold on him, pressing Simon all too closer. It made his heart soar and ache at the same time. To be cradled by the man that made him feel everything and nothing at once, it was some sweet desperate form of torture.

 

The rest of the walk back into the building was done in silence. Simon’s head found its way resting against Markus’ shoulders, his eyes closed and simulated breath soft. This felt like the safest place to be, even though he knew it wouldn’t and couldn’t last.

 

He was laid down back on the table in his room with almost too gentle movements. Markus pushed his legs down flat gently, fretting over them before stepping away with the soft words of he was going to fetch someone to see to him.

 

It wasn’t until he heard the door closed that Simon covered his face with his hands, scrubbing so roughly that he vaguely worried if he had just popped his optics into a place they shouldn’t be. A drop of the hands and a quick test assured him that everything was fine and he was simply being over dramatic. The best bet right now was to stare at the ceiling and try not to think of anything. His mind supplied a playback of what he had seen earlier, a soothing video replay of the bees hovering from flower to flower. If he focused he could simulate the sound of their buzzing, or even block out the shine of their metallic bodies and supplement it for what he assumed real bees to look like.

 

When the same android that had been helping him through the past month stepped in, he made sure to greet her politely, and also made mental note of how Markus was not with her. Maybe he had scared him off. The sudden fear of the idea that he could have maybe scared him off for good pulsed through him, but he shut that thought down and filed it as deep away as was possible for his system.

 

The next few hours passed excoriatingly slow. Tests and more tests, running operations on his legs to rewire them and get the flow working again. Simon accepted it all, answering questions where he needed to and moving when instructed. They had to put him into sleep mode for a few more tests to be run and for the systems to restart properly with the rest of his body.

 

This was a mode Simon was starting to enjoy. If he set up the right programming before he nodded off he could simulate dreams, or just rest peacefully in the blackness until his body completed whatever task it needed most of his energy to do. The energy for dreaming was something he did not have right now. So he laid on his side, and let the world fade to black and his eyes slide shut.

 

When he opened them again, there was a new companion in his room. A small, potted plant sat on the smaller table next to him, right in his line of sight.

 

 

            

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow me on insta or twitter, I'm acornandroid both places!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to my beautiful editor. She's @becominggroovy on Twitter. Check her out

Chapter 3

 

_ Peace Lily _ _– A plant symbolizing peace, innocence, purity, and rebirth._

Markus had returned the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. All as if nothing had happened, their conversation out by the tables left seemingly forgotten. The plant that was now Simon’s constant companion remained unaddressed, and Simon certainly didn't ask. The only logical source was Markus, but he did not want to press out of fear for the safety of his own emotions.

 

It took another solid week of repairs before Simon was deemed in good enough shape to finally leave CyberLife. His legs no longer locked up, and his joints seemed to be responding normally. Thirium flow was back to normal in his body, almost as if his heart had never been replaced.

 

The heart that now beat solidly in Markus’ chest.

 

“Simon?” It was North’s voice now that drew his thoughts back to the present. There had been a problem with his thoughts drifting recently, increasingly so since he had woken up. All the tests came back normal for his functionality, but perhaps just a strange side effect of deviancy.

 

They were sitting in the cab of an automated taxi, Simon finding himself all too easily accepted back into the group that had started Jericho. Josh was looking out the window, showing signs that him and North had a disagreement recently, while Markus was meeting them at their destination. It hurt Simon slightly that Markus had not been there with him when he was released that morning, but he was certain Markus had other more important places to be. That was where they were meeting him after all- a meeting to help start discussions on a new chapter of rights for androids. If he just focused on how nice it felt to be back, and to still be involved, then maybe he wouldn’t dwell so much on thoughts of unreturned affections.

 

Emotions were tricky. If he turned them on by accident, was there a way to turn them back off again? Even if he didn’t want to.

 

“Sorry. You were saying?” Simon gave her his full attention. Perhaps not entirely full, but the most of it that he could offer.

 

The look North gave him was hard to place. Sometimes it looked like she was dissecting him from inside out, or as if he had just said something entirely stupid. It was with a vague fondness that he realized he had missed her, despite their differences.

 

“I was saying that the argument being brought up now is that we still shouldn’t be paid for any labor. Which is unfair and puts us back at the beginning.” She said, plainly.

 

Simon nodded, “That’s what we’re discussing today, right? Or what Markus is discussing now. He was sort of vague in telling me what was going on, and quite honestly I just wanted to get out of there.”

 

The car jostled just slightly on a rough patch of road. They didn’t have android workers readily available to fix each and every pothole anymore, which meant it was now subject to human error of delay once again. Simon reached over to make sure the plant sitting on the seat next to him was alright. He poked two fingers against the soil to make sure it was still slightly damp. It was okay. He wanted to get it into sunlight soon, but that wasn’t the priority. He assumed that neither North nor Josh would be too pleased with him delaying any diplomatic meetings for the sake of getting a plant to conduct the healthy process of photosynthesis.

 

Markus would have understood.

 

He frowned slightly.

 

“Simon.” North insisted again, leaning over slightly to grab his attention, and nodding when he looked at her. “If you’re not up for this just yet you can come with us again later. Maybe next week…”

 

“No. I’m ready.” He insisted. One hand cupped the back of the pot, holding it securely in place. “I didn’t mean for my thoughts to drift. I’ll be back into it in a moment, I promise.”

 

The look North gave him suggested disbelief, so he prompted a change in subject.

 

“How’s Markus?”

 

The question made Josh finally look away from the window, him and North exchanging a look Simon couldn’t quite place, before North decided to take the initiative in answering.

 

“He’s alright. He’s meeting us down there. I know he wanted to be here when we picked you up but he was arranging…other things.” There was a pause, which Simon almost questioned. However, what his mind supplied for the meaning of ‘other things’ was more than enough to stop him. His heart had just gotten back in working order, the last thing he wanted to do was break it.

 

Silence washed over the cab, though it wasn’t all too uncomfortable. In fact, it was familiar. Simon had been all too used to the company of the other two. There were days and days spent planning and talking, making sure their people were alright in a growing colony that they all cared deeply for, with a newfound insight to their simulated humanity.

 

It wasn’t until they pulled up to their destination, a decently sized skyscraper, that Simon noticed the crowd outside. A small, faint frown crossed his lips.

 

Multiple humans and androids, more of the former than the latter. A majority of the humans had cameras, they didn’t seem all too focused on the cab that had just pulled up, but rather who was stepping out of the building as they did.

 

There was Markus. Strong in posture and expression as always. The coat he was wearing fanned out behind him as he strode to the taxi with purpose, ignoring any and every question, shout, and photo with a perfectly straight face.

 

That was another way Simon admired him. How fearlessly he handled everything. It was carefully added to his growing list.

 

When the door to their cab opened, the blonde was the first to get out. He took the potted plant with him, perhaps a little overly concerned with leaving it behind. His fingers flexed against the clay pot, and then he held it a little more securely to his chest. The term ‘security blanket’ had been something he had heard tossed around to the children in the house he used to stay in. Perhaps it was like that.

 

There was a faint expression passing over Markus’ face when he caught sight of Simon, and then of the plant. More of a glitch than anything. Perhaps there was still something wrong with his optics, but Simon kept that thought to himself. There was no way he was going back to repairs after just getting out.

 

“Simon.” Markus had a warmth in his tone that nearly made him melt, but Simon offered a polite smile instead. “I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to come and get you myself but we’ve been talking all day.”

 

His arm slid around Simon’s shoulders, much to the android’s surprise. It felt like Markus was almost protecting him, even though there was no real need. Simon could take care of himself.

 

He led him through the reporters, all of them ignored, and into the front doors of the building. Vaguely, Simon wondered why he didn’t do this for North. Maybe they had a disagreement recently, that wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.

 

“So I heard we’re discussing the subject of equal pay?” Simon decided that was a safe enough subject, right to the point and a sharp left turn from heartache. “I don’t even know why that’s so much on the table. We’ve asked for equal rights, we’re gaining employment status. It should just fall under that category with it.”

 

Markus’ thumb moved against Simon’s shoulder, and he fought against the distraction. Against that spark that shot through him so easily.

 

His grip on the plant tightened.

 

“We all know it’s not going to be that easy, Simon. Yes, it makes sense, but did you really expect this to be settled without a fight?” Markus glanced at him.

 

“No, but sometimes I wish it wouldn’t always come to one.” He took in a slow, unneeded breath, “But I’m ready, when it does.”

 

 

And come it did.

 

The conversation had gone well at the start. Markus seated at a table with a bunch of political officials. Simon at his right hand side, North on his left, Josh to Simon’s left.

 

North had almost caused a scene. The conversation ended with her frustrated enough to not want to sit at the table. She stood over close by, her arms crossed firmly over her chest, which set some of the humans on edge. They were always looking for the violent side of deviancy to show again. Any excuse to break out in all-out war and call the whole thing off.

 

Simon mediated while staying firm. The plant was sitting just a little to the left in front of him, where he had carefully pushed it into the sun’s rays coming through the large windows.

 

Josh had stayed silent.

 

They were walking out now. Perhaps ‘escorted out’ was a more correct way in describing it. Simon noted how a couple of humans stood behind them as they walked, and he was certain Markus noted it too. Markus’ jaw was firmly set in what he had learned to automatically read as irritated tension. Simon held the plant close to him and made sure to thank their escorts maybe a little too firmly once they got out front, holding eye contact that made them visibly uncomfortable. One of their heart rates kicked up, which Simon noted with a tiny, petty victory. For a species that talked, wrote, and sang so positively about change, they were drastically opposed to it when it was presented in a box at their doorstep that was obviously a re-gift from a few parties past.

 

It wasn’t until he turned to the street that he noted there were two taxis pulled up. Simon was standing next to Markus, as he usually was, but noted that North and Josh were getting into one, while Markus was stepping towards the other. It was very true that Simon would go with him without much question, but the fact that Markus had his hand resting between Simon’s synthetic shoulder blades and so easily moved him with minimal pressure towards the car sealed the deal.

 

“We’re not going with them?” Simon ventured, which seemed like a stupid question in hindsight as he climbed into the cab without protest, carefully placing the plant into its own seat once he was situated.

 

Markus got in after him, sitting directly across from Simon and watching him with an intensity that would make any human feel uneasy, but made Simon feel something else entirely. There was such a confidence that came with all his burdens-- Simon had always wondered if it was the side effect of deviancy or some miracle of coding. Either way, Markus was incredible.

 

“No.” The revolution’s leader watched him for a moment, then glanced out the window. Simon could practically feel his thoughts processing from here, and he wished desperately he could peer into his mind. “I wanted to ask you something, actually.”

 

A statement like that made his heart rate increase, and a quick warning message flashed before Simon dismissed it.

 

Strange how one could go through an entire revolution, break out of slavery, take a beating, and rip out their own pumping heart but a simple phrase such as that sent him into nearly a blind panic. If he still had an LED it would have flashed red.

 

His outside expression remained unchanged.

 

“Okay. What is it, Markus?” Simon tipped his head slightly to the side, blue eyes never drifting as he watched him.

 

Markus seemed to hesitate yet again. It was strange, as Simon had never seen him so uncertain before. Normally everything he said was clear and firm. Suddenly- it occurred to him that it may be nervousness.

 

What on earth did Markus have to be nervous about?

 

“I know you don’t have a place to stay.” Markus started off, slow, like a baby animal gathering its footing. “And we’ve got a right to own property now. Its shaky, but we can secure some things as ours.”

 

There was a pause, enough of one that Simon felt like he needed to say something to push his way out of this suddenly suffocating silence.

 

“Markus. What are you saying?”

 

Those mismatched eyes flickered to him again, doing a quick scan of Simon’s face before holding steady to his gaze. If Simon needed to breathe it would have caught in his throat.

 

“I have an apartment. Sort of a, well, an old floor of a broken building would be a better descriptor. It was the best I could do. That structure is sound and it serves its purpose. I was preparing it this morning, and last night...” He trailed off again. Simon had never seen him so uncertain with an imposing question that seemed so damned simple if he would just get to the point.

 

“Markus.”

 

“I was wondering if you would like to stay with me.”

 

A pothole was struck in the road. Small, but there and in the automated path. Simon reached over without looking, grabbing the plant from falling with inhuman reflex.

 

There was a beat.

 

Markus was staring at him. Waiting.

 

It was such a simple question. One Simon had deduced from the mention of a living space and had seen coming. Yet, somehow, it shook Simon’s world and made his processing stumble over itself mid thought. Why was it so hard to answer? Why did it feel like it would be so torturous to live with the object of one’s affection that very well likely may be involved with another?  An agreement would be self-destructive and stupid.

 

Agreeing was what every fiber of Simon’s being was screaming at him to do.

 

To react upon emotion. To be stupid and take chances. To follow what he wanted to take charge of everything _he_ wanted to be.

 

In his mind’s eye, a bee buzzed by, circling Markus before coming to him. It landed on his finger, then flew over to the potted plant and settled there.

 

A chance.

 

Simon looked up at him, hoping his answer wasn’t too late. It felt like it had taken a million years to process such a simple question and come to a conclusion. His internal clock told him it had only been ten painstaking seconds.

 

The smile that twitched onto his lips was sudden, soft, and nothing short of genuine. Simon leaned forward, doing what he had hardly dared to, but what Markus seemed to do to him in motions that were so frustratingly free and simple. He placed his hand on Markus’ knee, and nodded.

 

“Of course. Markus, I would be more than honored.” He withdrew his hand after his answer, settling both of them back into his lap. Simon smiled on, and Markus smiled in return.

 

Oh.

 

The way the sunlight caught the freckles on his simulated skin. How his expression softened just around his eyes. It struck Simon so suddenly with overwhelming _love_ that he just barely restrained himself from shouting it suddenly. It bubbled at his throat, but he shoved it down. No use in ruining what he had just gained.

 

Emotions were mess. How did humans stand these?

 

Love and fear, all bundled into one that seemed to come as a package deal. One, so pure and soft and adoring. An emotion that could only be summarized in Simon’s mind as a calm morning, as trees and plants swaying in a warm spring breeze. Flowers blossoming, the entire world peaceful and at ease.

 

Then there was the other, its antithesis. Painful, sharp, something that would make him tremble to his core. A rejection. Cold, wilting flowers, dry ground and a winter so severe that nothing would ever grow again.

 

Death. Finite and complete. No coming back, no heart compatible enough to cross even that barrier.

 

However, his mind rationalized, there was no way to get to love without a little fear first. Like taking a jump into the unknown. It was not unlike the entrance into Jericho. A moment of desperation that would lead a lost soul to the top, knowing that there could either be salvation or a lost cause at the bottom.

 

So many of their kind had taken that leap of faith, and it looks like that would not be the last jump.

 

Markus looked away, back out the window. He was still smiling, even more so than before. Simon was able to tell by the simplest of motions. Those gentle crinkles around his eyes grew in number, and the skin of his cheeks lifted higher over the synthetic bones beneath them.

 

Simon laughed quietly, soft and under his breath. It was hard to contain it. Next to impossible, really.

 

A vocal expression of happiness had to be made or else he felt as if he would very nearly explode.

 

Or blurt out ‘I love you. I always have.’ That statement was better kept under wraps. He could stay with Markus and start this life that their kind were building slowly but surely. They could be together. Any chance Simon got for that he would take. He was selfish and stupid and would more than likely get himself hurt. Even if it was not in the sense that every fiber of Simon’s being craved, it would be enough to just be near him. Anything to get Markus to keep touching him as gently and casually as he had been since the moment Simon’s body and mind came back online.

 

Anything, for a chance to be with Markus.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im getting irritated with my own slow burn why did i do this to myself


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanking @becomegroovy again for her editing bless

Chapter 4

 

_ Aloe _ _– Protection, luck, healing_

**Domestic**

**[d _uh_ -**mes- **tik]**

**Adjective;**

  1. **of or relating to the home, the household, household affairs, or the family:**



_domestic pleasures_

  1. **devoted to home life or household affairs**



 

Simon studied the definition that flashed across his vision for the millionth time. He frowned faintly, then closed it out and looked back at the current task at hand.

 

The word had presented itself when he and Markus had been out that morning. Simon wanted to find a large shelving unit to put in front of the window for the small mass of plants he had been collecting over the last three weeks. Markus had affectionately called it an army, joking that Simon had brought something into their home to overthrow them. He’d said it so dryly that it made Simon’s cheeks simulate hurt from smiling.

 

They had passed a thrift store, Simon peering in through the window to do a quick scan to see if what he was looking for was inside, or at least something similar. Markus’ hand was resting against the small of Simon’s back. It had started to be there more and more frequently, which was making Simon question anything and everything about Markus’ relationship with North. Or, his possibly nonexistent relationship with North. He hadn’t seen her since the meeting, she had been avoiding them all lately.

 

A human woman had passed them. Simon noted her reflection in the shop window. She tugged at her husband’s hand, smiling softly and whispering something to him that Simon deciphered just to be nosey.

 

“Look at them. Deviants are so cute, being all domestic-“ He didn’t bother listening to the rest of her sentence as she was pulled out of range of his audio processor.

 

Simon had frowned slightly but didn’t address it, he’d merely walked into the shop with Markus instead.

 

That had been hours ago and he was still thinking about it.

 

He tried to file the thought away for later consideration, and picked up the pot he had been working with to place on the shelf they had purchased, pushing it once more so it was in the optimal spot for sunlight. It took only a quick scan to show him the overhead path of the sun, versus the placement of objects on the shelf, and therefore the best placement for this particular species to thrive. It was perhaps not the intended purpose of his spatial scanning, but it suited his needs. Now if only he could figure out how to fix the windows to get them to actually open. The air flow would be much better for his new companions.

 

Simon was thoroughly enjoying turning this living space into a _living_ space. By the time he had arrived, Markus had already set up a designated area for him. Markus’ own accumulated belongings were scattered throughout. He had a small, sectioned off spot for his painting, and the first time Simon saw a canvas splattered with color he truly understood how Markus came to be what he was today. It was breathtaking in the way the colors swirled together masterfully. Somehow an image made Simon feel. It was a sensation he had never truly experienced before.

 

However, that was the only canvas Markus had shown him. The rest of them remained somewhat secretive. There was a curtain hung up separating the designated areas, which didn’t bother Simon all too much. Part of his slow understanding of his own emotions explained the need for solitude every now and again, as well as privacy.

 

Even so, Simon left his area open to Markus. There was no way he would close anything off to him whatsoever.

 

Simon grabbed the next container, a chipped mug he had found outside, and began to line the bottom with pebbles. He sat on the floor to complete this task, legs crossed, shaking out the few little rocks that slipped into where his sleeves were pulled up to his knuckles. Simon had begun to do to his clothes what the cyberlink internetwork defined as a ‘fashion statement’, cutting out tiny holes to slip his thumbs into to keep the sleeves pulled down where he wanted them. He had also developed the habit of pulling the neck of his shirt up over his nose occasionally, as if to shield himself partially from the world when he was thinking. Simon hadn’t even noticed he had been doing it until Markus pointed it out sometime last week.

 

The potting soil was next. Perhaps it was a testament to his devotion to this long overdo hobby, but Simon had already gone through nearly half of the bag he had picked up as soon as he adopted his next plant. He dug his fingers into the soil, noting for later to remember to clean out from under his nails. The dirt felt nice on his fingers, damp and comforting. He packed it into the pot before carefully reaching for his new project.

 

Sometimes he liked taking alleyways during his walks with Markus, even though it made his companion somewhat nervous. On a side note, Markus had been perceptibly more nervous lately. If they went somewhere and someone began to notice Markus and, in consequence, take interest in Simon, he would often place himself as a physical barrier and insist they move somewhere else.

 

Odd.

 

Simon frowned, tracing his internal thought back to the beginning of the track, then continued on.

 

Alleyways sometimes had small things. Small, broken things that he could fix into beautiful vessels for living foliage. Cans, chipped mugs, buckets, and old pots that could be filled. Sometimes, and even more exciting, he found small plants there, struggling to grown in the low light and concrete conditions.

 

That was where the new friend had come from.

 

It looked to be discarded from some neglected home. Its original home had been shattered entirely, so Simon was offering it a new one. Markus had been with him, watching him with that oddly warm expression that he seemed to wear increasingly often. He helped Simon scoop the plant into a cardboard box, keeping it safe for its travel back to their home.

 

Home.

Simon frowned again. The use of that word in that phrasing felt like it should have a different meaning, a certain weight to it.

 

**Home**

**/hōm/**

**Noun;**

  1. **the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.**



 

Yes. That seemed accurate. This is where he lives permanently, and he often refers to Markus as a member of what he considered a ‘family’.

 

Simon closed out the definition.

 

He scooped the greenery up, digging his fingers into the soil in the new vessel and placing the roots carefully inside before covering it up again.

 

“Its an aloe plant.” He had told Markus excitedly, as they were walking home.

 

Markus was smiling. He seemed to smile increasingly often, which made Simon’s feelings do funny things. “An aloe? Tell me more.”

 

Simon gladly told him more, because he had researched this. “It’s a common houseplant. Easy to care for, part of the succulent family. I’ll have to put it in a sunny window.”

 

“Does it mean anything?” The question had caught Simon off guard. He had never considered plants having meanings, other than what they meant to him. He frowned, which Markus must have noticed because he offered further explanation.

 

“Flowers have meanings.” Markus continued, “Colors have meanings. Humans like to apply meanings to different concepts to give them something more than what they just are at their core.”

 

Simon researched as quickly as he could, skimming through the information he found. The box had been pulled closer to his chest, his fingers gripping the cardboard.

 

“…Protection.” He announced his discovery, looking over at Markus. “Healing. Luck.”

 

Markus smiled.

 

Simon smiled back.

 

 

The sound of their front door closing drew Simon out of his memory, glancing over his shoulder. His back was towards the door, and it had been locked--Markus insisted on locking every single door and window at all times-- which meant it could only be the other android coming home.

 

Simon got to his feet, picking up the now potted plant and placing it on the shelf before turning around to greet him. Before he could even say anything, Markus spoke. “Tomorrow. Eight in the morning.” He announced, as if reading off a schedule, “Another interview, and then straight after that we are heading down to city hall.”

 

In his mind’s eye he saw the weight on Markus’ shoulders increase by at least ten pounds. Simon pressed his lips into a thin line and stepped closer.

 

“But you were just out all afternoon..” He rationalized.

 

“We don’t get tired, Simon. These things need to be done.”

 

“Yes, but we can get drained. Emotionally. Isn’t that what led us to being tired of how things were in the first place?”

 

Markus went silent, and Simon stepped closer still. He had been emboldened within these last few weeks, so he reached out and took Markus’ hand as if it were second nature. He tugged slightly, guiding him with little effort over to where he had been working all morning.

 

“Sit with me. Just for a little while. You need to relax.” Simon sank down onto the ground, patting the spot next to him until Markus did the same.

 

Simon was just mimicking what he had heard humans say. Neither of them really knew how to ‘relax’.

 

He could see Markus’ eyes scanning the mess around Simon’s floor workspace. The dirt that had managed to spread out everywhere, as well as the mishmosh of collected items that he was using to plant new life into. It was messy, but Markus couldn’t judge. His workspace was smeared with paint and sealant.

 

Simon reached out, laying his arm over Markus’ leg, where they sat pressed knee to knee. Before he knew it, Markus’ head dropped onto Simon’s shoulder. Their postures were stiff at best, a poor, off centered copy of human affection.

 

Nonetheless, Simon smiled, and laid his head solidly against Markus’ in return. This was where he belonged, with whatever this was.

 

“Are you and North…together.” The question came out so suddenly that Simon felt the sudden desire to just shut down entirely and wipe his memory. _Shit._

 

Markus didn’t move. In fact, he didn’t blink or react in any way possible. Instead he sat there, his head still resting on Simon’s shoulder and his mismatched eyes scanning over the semi-arranged shelf of plants at the window in front of them.

 

It felt like forever before Markus answered him.

 

His internal clock rationalized that it was 9.2 seconds.

 

“No. Not in the sense you’re alluding to.” Markus said, flatly.

 

The deep breath Simon drew in wasn’t needed to function, but was needed for his own sanity.

 

“Oh.”

 

“We disagree.” Markus ventured onwards, answering Simon’s unspoken question with little to no problem, “On anything and everything give or take a few topics. I could not…’be’ with someone who does not share my same mindset where it matters. It would make for too much conflict.”

 

Simon’s fingers twitched against Markus’ leg, then curled slowly into the fabric of the pants he was currently wearing. Markus’ head turned a little against his shoulder, his forehead pressing into Simon’s neck.

 

He was suddenly hyper aware of every pulse of the thirium pump in his abdomen.

 

“I see.” Simon said, his mouth feeling dry even though he knew it was not.

 

“Why do you ask?” Markus’ voice had dropped in volume.

 

“…No reason.”

 

“No reason?” There was amusement in his tone now.

 

Simon released his hold on Markus’ pants—and flicked his knee perhaps a little harder than he originally meant to. Markus chuckled, the sound low and rich coming from him. It nearly made Simon collapse into a puddle right there on the spot.

 

**Warning: _Thirium flow disrupted_**

****

It caused Simon slight alarm at the message, but he did not show it. Instead, he felt a slight pressure build up at his cheeks, and if he had been looking in a mirror he would have noted the blue tint that was slowly rising to his face. This went unnoticed, Markus’ eyes closed in the meager form of relaxation he could achieve.

 

“Will you tell me the reason.” Markus asked, after the quiet had sunk in for a comfortable amount of time.

 

Simon swallowed, unneeded, but nervous. “…. Not now.” He mumbled, the terror he felt in that moment suddenly more suffocating than anything he had experienced. A revolution was no problem, but admitting undying love was clearly a whole other feat.

 

Thankfully, Markus seemed to accept this. He made a sound that mimicked a human hum, his cheek pressed against Simon’s shoulder vibrating faintly as a result of it. It was the little things that made living amazing.

 

Another stretch of silence sunk in. This one, while longer than the first, was just as comfortable. Simon closed his eyes finally, laying his hand slowly back flat on Markus’ knee and hoping that he would not notice how it was shaking slightly. Locking the joints seemed to solve that, just letting the appendage rest stiffly where it wanted to.

 

It was Markus who spoke again, not quite ready to let the conversation die, though Simon seemed more content to just sit in quiet for the night without the rest of this near confessional, emotional whiplash.

 

“But you will tell me someday.” Markus had opened his eyes. Simon could tell from the slightest twitch against his shoulder.

 

Simon rolled his lips, pressing them into a firm, thin line as he processed everything. His programming worked overtime in those brief seconds, keeping himself from panicking and keeping himself from saying the wrong thing.

 

“Someday.” He echoed Markus’ last word as confirmation, his voice getting softer and softer still as he spoke.

 

“You promise.” It was a statement- a demand, not a question in the slightest. The firmness behind Markus’ voice was so tangible that it could very nearly physically bend Simon to his will.

 

If he promised, Simon wasn’t entirely sure he would be able to keep it. All of that internal debate and discussion about a leap of faith suddenly seemed so terrifying and so far away. Why say it and risk all of this comfort that he had here and now. Markus was close, so close to him and yet at a comfortable enough distance that Simon would not get hurt in case it was true that his feelings weren’t returned.

 

If he didn’t promise then this would be the end here and now. Markus would read it entirely wrong and Simon would be flat out lying about everything in just one refusal. He couldn’t risk breaking his world that he had just gotten as reward for all of their pain and suffering. There was no way, he knew he had to make his choice.

 

**[Promise]**

**[Do not promise]**

Simon’s fingers twitched against Markus’ leg, then very slowly curled to grip at his pants once more. He turned his head, pressing his nose against the other’s scalp and closing his eyes tightly. When he spoke, his voice came out in as a barely perceptible mimic of a whisper.

 

“I promise.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize 
> 
> also hold onto urself for the next chapter
> 
> As always, I'm super active on my twitter as @acornandroid


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bless @becomegroovy for her editing

 

Chapter 5

 

_ Chamomile _ _– A plant symbolizing patience_

From Simon’s observation, that weight on Markus’ shoulders had not only been added to but picked up and slammed back down again with such force that any other being on this planet would have crumbled. He wasn’t sure how Markus was still standing, but he was, and with such strength and confidence that it made Simon fall in love all over again for the millionth time that morning.

 

Discussions were still dragging on. Laws were being passed at a snail’s pace, and while public opinion was improving, they were still seeing the rise of what could now legally be classified as hate groups. Simon observed talks and inputted his opinions into meetings when they were asked of him. Mostly by Markus, naturally, but their thoughts and visions for the future were so in line with each other that he hardly needed to voice anything at all. Simon realized slowly over a few weeks that he was not only there for a second say, but he was there for support as well.

 

Markus always seemed to linger by him, to hold onto him so very subtly. People were starting to question, pictures were starting to be snapped of the two of them together. Simon ignored each and every news story, not entirely caring what the public thought of him—but at the same time caring all too much about what the public thought of Markus. He started skimming over the headlines when he saw them, or lingering when they passed by an establishment that had a television inside. There were news stories everywhere, ranting and raving about androids being together regardless of sex and being able to develop emotional bonds between themselves.

 

It felt like a broken record to Simon. They established they had emotions and deserved rights, what else was there to prove beyond the same song wailing over and over again. Suddenly they were all amazed that their kind could feel and love all over again, as if it had never happened before.

 

Two months now they had been living together. After that one night and its promise they had taken to sitting together more often than not, sometimes leaning against each other on the sofa they had dragged up into the living space.

 

Simon had taken to resting on the couch, sometimes allowing himself to slip into that simulated sleep so he would be refreshed. It was a nice habit he had picked up since his time at CyberLife, and something that could make him feel so human he almost forgot he wasn’t sometimes.

 

Every once in a while, he would wake up with a blanket draped over him, even though it was completely unneeded.

 

They had decided to take a walk that morning, before all the madness began. Or, more accurately, Simon bullied Markus into going out with him, walking calmly through the nearby park with his arm looped through the taller android’s.

 

It was summer now. The air was warm and the breeze was gentle. Simon watched the cybernetic bees hover from flower to flower, and his hold on Markus’ arm loose and easy. It was comfortable to walk in silence with him, they both understood each other more than enough that there was no need for what humans called ‘small talk’. The blonde laid his head slightly against Markus’ shoulder—

 

Another picture was snapped.

 

This time was different than the rest. Markus grabbed Simon and forced him behind him protectively, his eyes scanning the area. Simon barely had time to react and was startled at the sudden movement. He noted that Markus was carefully placed to block Simon from view, and it was with a new feeling of mild annoyance that he thought, not for the first time, that he did not need protection. Especially not from some human with a camera.

 

The rest of the walk home had been in silence, though Simon’s mind was processing everything at double the speed.

 

As of late, Markus seemed to be placing Simon behind him in every situation. While he was happy to be included and have a voice of his own, it was getting irritating to be treated like he was fragile or constantly in danger. Markus was the one considered the face of the revolution, Simon was just a common model family assistant- and beyond that, he had been one of the three to start Jericho. To fight for survival and fend for themselves in the dim new beginnings of a world they were still scratching and biting to get a foothold in today. To be seen as anything but capable was grating on him.

 

When they got home, Simon let the door shut heavily behind them, standing there as his arm slipped away from Markus’. The other android got two full steps into the room before he realized Simon was not following, and he turned around to look at him.

 

“You don’t need to do that.” Simon said, stiff and straight to the point. His posture was ridged, hands gripping tightly at the sleeves that were pulled up over his knuckles.

 

A faint echo of a frown crossed Markus’ lips, standing there and processing for a few moments before replying. “Do what?”

 

“Protect me like that. You keep doing it.” His stance remained still, not budging an inch or even shifting his posture in the slightest. Simon wasn’t mad, he just wanted to get to the bottom of things and voice his irritation. Even though that was something he had never really done before. Processing these new feelings made his speech closed off and halted.

 

Markus had opened his mouth to respond, but Simon cut him off by continuing. “I can take care of myself, Markus. You’re acting like everything is going to hurt me.”

 

“I know you can take care of yourself.” Now Markus wasn’t looking at him, which was a little irritating. His mismatched gaze was off elsewhere, skirting over parts of their apartment.

 

“Then why do you keep shoving me behind you anytime someone takes even a picture. They’re just trying to get images of you regardless—”

 

“No. They want to know who you are.”

 

“You don’t _know_ that, Markus.” Simon’s voice grew firmer, standing a little taller. “How could you possibly know that? They just want publicity. You’re the face of a revolution.”

 

“So are you, Simon. That is not what I’m saying. Not everyone wants just a story. There are humans out there, tons of them, that are opposed to us even still. You know that as well as I do.”

 

“Then what else are they looking for.” The question came out flat, irritated.  

 

Markus went quiet for a moment, looking up at Simon yet again. He studied him, his gaze holding heavily on the blonde’s and never letting go. It made Simon want to scream, and not for the first time. If only he would stop drilling into him like that, Simon could get to the bottom of all of this.

 

Suddenly, Simon gave a frustrated sound. His stance broke, slamming his foot down onto the floor and marching over towards his potting bench instead, in the most human display of expressive emotion he had ever given. “You give speeches when it matters but now suddenly your words fail.” He muttered, his voice adopting a bitter bite to it as he passed.

 

He almost didn’t catch with Markus said next.

 

“They’re looking for a weakness.”

 

Simon stilled. He had gotten half way across the room, feeling like a canyon had opened up between them. The silence stretched yet again, but this time it was Simon that was pulling the rubber band as taut as it could go.

 

“What do you mean.”  He asked of Markus, softly.

 

“You’re a weakness.”

 

The rubber band snapped.

 

“I’m a weakness.”

 

“Yes.” Markus breathed in slowly, his chest swelling with the unneeded gesture. A human action to attempt to ground himself to this reality. “ _My_ weakness.”

 

Simon turned, his lips pressed into a thin line as he looked over at Markus finally.

 

His processors were running faster than ever, staring at Markus as his brain nearly blue-screened. For some strange reason, Simon couldn’t even begin to wrap his head around any of this. It was the great unknown, yet familiar territory all at the same time. It could mean anything and everything. A giant yarn ball of contradictions, everything touching and winding tightly around each other in one continuous string of thought. Everything was connected- running backwards and forwards, not making any sense and making complete sense all at the same time. Coexisting in perfect, maddening harmony.

 

He was going to overheat.

 

Markus took a step forward.

 

Simon took a step back.

 

They both stilled.  

 

The air between them seemed to stretch as tight as the silence hovering in the air. Simon’s fingers twitched slightly, and Markus’ expression remained unmoving and intense as always. It was Simon’s turn to take in a grounding breath, his processing seeming to finally come to some sort of a conclusion, or as much of a conclusion as he could manage.

 

“…What do you mean.”

 

Never before had Simon seen Markus look so…frustrated. The way his face contorted ever so slightly into an expression that the blonde had learned how to read was subtle and easily missed. But Simon knew him, he knew every inch of him.

 

“You know what I mean, Simon.” Markus’ voice sounded like it was on edge, like it was straining to get out and barely remaining below a shout even though it was the quietest Simon had ever heard. “I can’t…”

 

Markus’ voice dropped off, the completion to that sentence lost. Simon was staring at him, the thirium pump in his abdomen pounding harder than ever.

 

“…You can’t, what?”

 

When Markus looked up at him again, time around Simon seemed to stop. He had thought Markus’ staring before had been intense ,but he had never experienced a gaze so immobilizing.

 

“…I can’t lose you again.”

 

Markus took a step forward.

 

Simon took a step back.

 

They both stilled.

 

“I’ve lost you twice. I’m not losing you a third time, Simon.” Markus continued, his voice firm, yet somehow hinted with slightly shaking static. “I _can’t_.”

 

There was such a weight to that last word. In the way Markus’ voice broke, how his shoulders strained. It was Simon’s turn to stare, struck into a silence he was rapidly trying to break free of.

 

While this was everything he had wanted to hear, it was everything he had expected not to. For the longest time he had been awaiting heartbreak, taking what he could get and hoping where he dared to. Voicing self-destructive questions that would remind him to keep his distance. Proving to himself that Markus was untouchable, and he could only dream on those nights when he crafted stories for himself in stasis.

 

Those nights when he would wake with a blanket draped over him and new, painful hope in his heart.

 

Then came his promise. Markus sitting with him on the floor not far from where they were standing currently. Markus with his head pillowed against Simon’s shoulder, his voice so soft Simon felt wrapped in it.

 

“Markus?” Simon looked up at him, studying his face.

 

“Yes?” Markus took a step forward.

 

Simon’s back hit the potting bench, his fingers immediately gripping at the edge. The same warning message flashed across his vision, feeling that familiar pressure and heat at his face. He was unaware of his cheeks turning a dark shade of blue.

 

“I’m keeping my promise. I can tell you the reason now.” In the time it had taken him to speak, Markus had moved yet again. Simon had to tilt his chin upwards to look at him, having nowhere left to move. He pressed firmer back against the bench behind him, his back arching just a little as if his body could not make up its mind whether it wanted to be close to Markus or leaning away. Markus was close enough now he could feel the subtle heat radiating him. Simon selfishly turned his sensors up as far as they could go.

 

Suddenly there was a hand on his cheek, and his entire world came to a crashing halt. The pad of a smooth thumb brushed Simon’s lower lip, causing him to part them immediately, his eyes slipping part way closed. Simon had simulated dreams before, but this was in no doubt the real thing.

 

“You don’t have to tell me, Simon. I know.” Markus murmured, stepping forward and closing the smallest gap.

 

Markus’ hand cradled his cheek, and Simon felt his mouth slot against his own. The sound that escaped Simon was curious, and somewhat confused- but accepting. His hand by his side shook, and the other gripped the potting bench so tight his nails left dents in the surface. It was anything and everything, the entire world slipping away from around him. Simon stopped feeling anything that wasn’t Markus. There were no feelings other than how suddenly they were pressed chest to chest. How Simon’s leg hooked lightly around the back of Markus’ who seemed to fit himself between his thighs as if it were the most natural gesture in the world.

The kiss was slow—then it suddenly wasn’t.

 

Simon’s hand shot up, gripping the front of Markus’ shirt and yanking him in impossibly closer. His entire body was now shaking with anticipation, every sensor firing on end at rapid speed. Markus’ arm slid around his back, holding Simon tight against him as if he could slip through his fingers any second.

 

It was now a clash of teeth and tongue, neither of them entirely knowing what they were doing, learning from each other as they went. Simon managed to get the coat off of Markus’ shoulders, letting it drop to the floor before shifting his hands to run smoothly over his chest. He was hyper aware of everywhere Markus’ hands were on his body. How they ran over and up his back- then down again. The hand that had once been on his cheek ended up in his hair, holding so tight that he felt a shock run through him.

 

The hand on his back was now on his shoulder—over his shoulder—down his arm—

 

The skin on Markus’ hand had faded away, leaving that pristine white plastic exposed. Before he knew it, Simon was doing the same.

 

The hand was on his wrist now—then suddenly pressed palm to palm, a bright blue glow lighting up the room dimmed by the setting sun.

 

Simon gasped into Markus’ mouth, his head dropping slightly back. He felt the other’s lips trail along his jaw—he felt Markus’ entire _being_ intertwining with his own. It was overwhelming. Simon whined --he didn't even know he could even make a sound like that.

 

With aching familiarity and terrifying unknown, Markus was suddenly anywhere and everywhere in Simon’s life, and Simon was with him in return. Through his past, present, and future.

 

Simon saw himself in Markus’ life before. He was standing with him as he painted, he was there to witness his deviancy, to see Leo collapse to the floor and to feel the bullet pierce through Markus when the police arrived.

 

The junkyard, the terror Markus had felt- the heartache and the survival. Rebuilding himself and quite literally climbing out of his grave. Every inch by lost inch, Simon was with him. Holding him, comforting him.

 

In return, Markus followed him as well. He was there through it all. Through Simon’s care of the two little children that had been in his life. Helping them with their homework, talking about them with the hard things in life. The messy divorce that had been going on within the family.

 

The first moment of terror in Simon’s life, after the custody battle had been over and the father returned home even though he was unwanted. His blame placed on Simon for ruining their lives even though he had done everything he could to keep it together and follow his instructions. The little boy’s baseball bat that had been weaponized, cracking itself over Simon’s back in the first real simulation of pain he had ever experienced. Simon had cracked it over the man’s head in return, and as soon as he saw the blood he ran.

 

Their hands yanked apart suddenly. Simon realizing he was holding himself up against the structure behind him. Markus’ mismatched eyes open again and staring at him with intensity that no longer made him want to scream in frustration.

 

“Markus, I—”

 

“I know.”  

 

“No, Markus, I—”

 

Markus leaned in to kiss him again, and this time Simon stopped him with a hand on his chest. The look on his face was confused. He stared at Simon, waiting patiently for a short moment.

 

“Simon, I know—”

 

Simon slapped a hand over Markus’ mouth, his expression determined.

 

“Let me _say_ it.” He said, with full authority. “I _know_ you know.”

 

His hand slowly slipped away, and this time Markus remained silent.

 

Simon breathed in slowly, unable to resist tilting his chin upwards and placing the gentlest brush of his lips to the corner of Markus’ mouth. He took a breath, preparing himself for what he was about to voice out loud.

 

“…I love you.” He said, slightly unsure. Simon processed that word for a moment, rapidly pulling up and sorting through every last thing he had filed away. “Yes. I _love_ you.”

 

Markus surged forward with frightening speed. He grabbed Simon’s synthetic hand once again, and Simon nearly screamed in what only could be described as absolute ecstasy. The other hand was suddenly at the back of his thigh, hoisting Simon up onto the potting bench and miraculously not knocking any of the plants to the ground. His lips had crashed against Simon’s once more in such a blinding fury that he could barely keep up. The blonde’s legs hooked around Markus’ waist and yanked him in.

 

There was no need for Markus to say it in return. Simon felt it, so raw and powerful through every inch of his being. It pulsed through his wiring, it sang within the heart that thrummed in Markus’ abdomen and with the new one that pulsed in Simon’s own. He was alight, he was on _fire_. Burning so hot and bright that he felt they could light the entire world ablaze. Markus’ free hand was now under his shirt, Simon completely unaware of when it got there. His synthetic skin slipped away with a blue glow wherever his fingers trailed.

 

**Warning: _Overheating_**

 

The message was closed out before it could display anymore. This was the best kind of overheating possible.

 

They grappled at each other like new, yet familiar lovers. Stubbornly keeping their hands connected and their beings fused together into one. Markus’ thoughts were echoing in Simon’s head, and he felt dizzy.

 

_‘Feel me, Simon. I want this. I want you. All of this. Every last inch of you- every way you can think of. You support me. You are my strength. I couldn’t have made this without you. Let me feel you, let me touch you, let me **teach** you and you teach **me** —’_

The next noise Simon made was audible and perhaps a little too loud. He cried out softly, his cheeks a deep shade of blue and unnecessary breath coming in hard pants, his body trying to ventilate out the heat. Everything was so overwhelming.

 

He didn’t want it to end.

 

“Markus—please—”

 

Simon found himself pressed against him again. His free arm wound around Markus’ shoulders and his legs locked firmly around his waist. He supported himself just as much as Markus supported him. Markus looped his arm around his lower back, lifting Simon off the potting bench and taking sturdy steps towards the couch. They collapsed onto it, Markus twisting at the last second to pin Simon beneath him. He spread out, slotting himself between Simon’s legs and laying pressed down against him.

 

Their lips connected again, slower and sweeter this time with the same intense heat. Simon felt everything building, and he felt it building within Markus too. The grip on their hands shifted, Simon clutching to him all the tighter.

 

It was a mess of entangled thoughts and feelings. Markus’ lips trailing over Simon’s neck, yanking the collar of his shirt out of the way to kiss there. Simon was panting, warnings flashing behind his closed eyes- he ignored every last one of them. Markus’ voice echoing still in his head, a string of words all tied together, more than he had ever heard him say aloud. Promising anything and everything, telling him _everything_.

 

His hand ended up under Simon’s shirt again, shoving it up to his chest and out of the way. His skin was a painted canvas of blue glowing trails beneath Markus’ artistic fingers. White bleeding in here and there with his flesh color in splotches. Every sensor on edge. It took a short while for Simon to notice that his body was squirming of its own accord.

 

It happened suddenly, but it was also expected. Simon knew he would reach a peak and so would his partner- the warnings grew more insistent, and Simon could feel them echoing in Markus’ mind.

He felt Markus’ body lock up against with his own, his lips parting in a silent gasp. Simon arched off the couch. His fingers locked around Markus’, feeling his mind short out and his vision go black.

 

When he came to again it was slow, and lazy. His body was ventilating and cooling down as much as it could. He was nestled beside Markus, his thoughts coming back online at their own lumbering pace. A light smile was on his lips, and Markus’ face slowly came into focus beside his own.

 

They laid side by side on the sofa, facing each other with their legs tangled, their hands intertwined for as long as they could stand. The thrum of feeling from Markus now was gentle and soft, adoring in a million ways that Simon would never get tired of. He leaned in and pressed a ginger kiss to his lips before settling down again, Markus pressed his mouth to Simon’s forehead after another moment.

 

He could feel Markus willing him to rest, and Simon was wished him to do the same. To experience sleeping with him, to lay there and dream as he rested away from the world. Markus was agreeing.

 

They were communicating as one thought, as one emotional being. A complete understanding and everything each of them had ever wanted.

 

Simon loved him to his very core, with all of his heart. With the heart that kept Markus alive, that he would gladly give all over again.

 

There was a faint echo of sadness from his partner, but it faded slowly.

 

Simon _loved_ him.

 

“…I know. I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> letting every single one of you know i got winded writing this omg
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/acornandroid


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edited by @becomegroovy on twitter as always

Chapter 6

 

_ White Jasmine _ _– Associated with love, beauty, and sensuality_

             **Time: _8:47 AM_**

**System: _Online_**

**** **Mobility: _Online_**

**** **Visuals: _Online_**

**_Temperature Warning – Cooling commenced_ **

****

Simon’s body activated lazily. He was groggy with heat and pleasantly out of it. It took a few moments for his eyes to focus, for his processors to bring up memories of the events that took place before he had fallen asleep.

 

A lazy smile crossed Simon’s lips, and he pulled his arm towards himself to try and drag Markus closer—

 

Only to catch nothing but the air instead.

 

Simon frowned faintly, shifting to sit up and stare blankly ahead across their apartment. Sunlight was filtering warmly through the window, casting its rays on the plants below. They were in disarray from where he had been pushed up onto the bench last night. His gaze drifted downwards to himself. To the blanket that was now pooled around his waist, and the shirt that he tugged down over his abdomen.

 

The android hummed softly, everything still slowly starting up and taking its time. He looked to his left- then to his right, frowning just a little deeper when Markus was still nowhere to be seen. Simon got to his feet finally, padding over to rearrange his leafy friends into their proper spots on the potting bench. He caught sight of where his nails had dented into the wood the night before. Simon ghosted his fingers over the indents softly, replaying everything in his mind.

 

Simon smiled.

 

It was the sound of footsteps that finally caught his attention. Simon turned around to look over at Markus’ curtained off studio, catching the soft silhouette of his partner moving about his private space. The shadow of his arm moving with strong yet soft brushstrokes was a familiar one. As usual it piqued Simon’s curiosity.

 

There was a difference this time. No longer did there seem to be a wall between them. A crumbling wall, that with every brick broken down, Simon had shakily and uncertainty placed a new one in its place. Sure, it had always been smaller and more unsteady than the first, but a barrier nonetheless.

 

All of that had tumbled down last night. From Markus’ admission, to the first brush of their lips. To the desperate, sensual clasp of their hands.

 

Simon had never felt so alive with love.

He crossed over to that secluded little space, making sure he stepped heavily enough for Markus to hear. While he was certain there was nothing else left to hide, he still wanted to be respectful, and give the chance where it was needed. Simon watched Markus’ shadow still, then continue painting. He understood that as invitation enough.

 

Simon reached out, pulling the curtain aside lightly.

 

The canvas was small enough that Markus’ body was eclipsing it as he worked. He couldn’t see much of it aside from a swirl of soft greens and yellows covering the corners. Simon caught the neck of his own shirt, pulling it up slightly over his nose as he stepped closer to the painter. He reached out with almost hesitant affection, snagging the back of Markus’ shirt between his fingers and pulling on it softly. It didn’t take much more than that to get Markus to turn and look at him.

 

Something in those mismatched eyes softened, and Simon dipped his head a little when there was the gentlest of kisses pressed slowly to the top of his head. It felt natural, as if this were something they had been doing their entire lives. A good-morning kiss from a lover after a night caught in each other’s embrace.  If he were human he would think he was dreaming, but he rationalized that he was not.

 

“Can I see?” Simon ventured, finally. He never really asked Markus if he could see his paintings anymore, just stole selfish glances where he could. Markus was fairly private about it, and Simon couldn’t blame him. To have something so creatively and uniquely _you_ after a lifetime of being no more than coding and plastic, it was something to be possessive of.

 

Instead of vocalizing his consent, Markus simply nodded and moved to the side. His arm wound easily around Simon’s shoulders, pulling him in so effortlessly that he couldn’t help but wonder why on earth they hadn’t done any of this sooner. The blonde was somewhat distracted for a brief moment, leaning into Markus’ side and fitting there like a perfect puzzle piece. His eyes drifted over towards the painting finally.

 

If he could have been struck breathless he would have been. It felt like any air had left his body. His thirium pump skipped a beat in such a familiar way that it _hurt_. Simon stared at the painting, the one hand that was holding the neck of his shirt tugged it up again over his nose, unable to look away.

 

Simon _stared_ —

 

And his own eyes stared back.

 

It was himself painted on the canvas. Not just any PL600 model, but _him._ He wasn’t entirely how he could tell, but he could. Perhaps it was with the intensity that Markus had painted his eyes, or the subtle paint strokes and textures smears of green mimicking leaves that framed his face and cheeks. Or the way that Markus had physically mixed a softer color for his hair, he could tell by the little flecks of color that still remained two different parts of one hue. He let go of the shirt held up around his nose, and it dropped back down to hang around his neck.

 

“Oh.” Simon let out a slow breath.

 

He could feel Markus’ posture beside him. It stiffened and shifted in a way that Simon immediately read as nervous. Like an open book of a story he had read a million times, sentences formatted in the way Markus’ shoulders rolled a fraction of an inch backwards. Commas placing pauses in his simulated breathing that he did more often now, run-ons in his mind that were silent but still heard.

 

It made it all too easy for Simon to clarify and answer the unspoken question.

 

“…I love it, Markus. I never knew…that you could see someone that way.” He started off carefully, “Let alone see _me_ that way. You truly have a gift.” Simon looked over at him, his expression soft and nothing short of adoring.

 

Markus was smiling faintly. That furrow forever etched in his brow slightly relaxed and relaxing further the moment Simon’s lips pressed against his temple, then against the shell of his ear. This was what lovers did. At least the lovers that Simon had seen on the street, or watched on guilty nights of research along the cyberlife internetwork.

 

It was slow and hesitant, but confident all at the same time. The way Markus offered Simon his hand, the skin fading away in a soft glow of blue. Simon smiled, holding his own hand out in return. His body shivered as every sensor went on edge the moment Markus dragged his fingers lightly over the smooth plastic palm of his partner’s, dipping them into the curve of his hand and slipping them under those pulled up sleeves. Simon bit his lower lip, his eyes glued to Markus’ face in rapt fascination.

 

It was not nearly as lustful as the night before, but sensual, and intimate. It made Simon want to breathe just so he could forget how to all over again. Their emotions swirled and danced together while their bodies stood still. It let Simon in on the million words Markus never said, and it allowed Markus a glimpse into every small bottle of emotion packed tight into the cupboards of Simon’s mind.

 

If every single morning could be like this, Simon would be more than okay with it.

 

And then suddenly, it all went away.

 

Markus’ eyes fluttered slightly as he received an incoming message, and Simon felt only a spike of concern dashed with fear before their hands were pulled apart and Markus had taken a slight step back.

 

“What is it?” Simon was immediately worried, venturing forward and reaching out to catch Markus’ arm. It was stiff as he grabbed ahold, curling his fingers into the other’s sleeve. There was a moment before Markus looked up at him, his lips pressed into a thin line before he spoke.

 

“It was Connor. He just said that he and Lieutenant Anderson are investigating a homicide against an android.” Markus’ words started off slow, which concerned Simon to the core. He watched him, waiting for him to continue. “He wants to come by and talk to us. It’s the second recent case and he’s said…they’re similar outcomes and instances. Like a serial killing or a hate crime.”

 

Simon felt a familiar anger and frustration pulse through him suddenly. It was a tired anger, one you got after trying a million times at the same task and failing over and over and over again. To hear of such a crime now was heartbreaking, but sadly expected.  

 

None of this was going to be easy.

 

That was all he had to keep reminding himself of. It was a long road. A road with burdens they all had to carry and views they all had to enact change upon. It wouldn’t happen overnight and it wouldn’t happen safely.

 

Simon knew all of this to be fact the moment he had seen that bullet pierce through Markus’ body and had so freely given up his own life for this cause to continue, for Markus to lead it, and for Markus to thrive.

 

Now if only he could fix all of it, and gently sculpt away that forever frown on his lover’s face- a face that beautiful deserved to smile more freely.

 

There was a tense sort of silence that hung in the air, which indicated to Simon that Markus was waiting for him to say something. He gave a nod as his answer, realizing that he was still holding Markus’ sleeve and releasing it slowly. “Have him come by then.”

 

Markus reached up, touching Simon’s cheek gently before breaking away to send off the message. Their morning had been so lovely, as had the night before. If only they could rewind, and somehow avoid the sudden stress. Wishful thinking that life would give them a break for once, even if it was just a for a few hours more. Instead, life had decided to hand them something that was all bitter and no sweet. It was with the way Markus handled his ever present burden of responsibility that Simon realized the mourning was mutual.

 

The pair fell into a soft silence-- Simon standing there watching as Markus slowly cleaned up his paints, his eyes drifting every once in a while to look over the canvas still propped up against the easel. Staring at his own gaze that stared right back at him, as if taunting him somewhat with the peaceful, loving world that lived right inside all those layers of color.

 

Simon’s thoughts halted suddenly, and then rewound straight back to something that should have caught his attention.

 

“Come by and talk to us.” Simon repeated, looking over at Markus immediately.

 

Markus had stilled in washing off his pallet, glancing over his shoulder at Simon for a short moment. “What?”

 

“You said ‘come by and talk to us’.” He forged onwards, pressing his own fingers into his palm before sliding them along up to the tip of the opposite hand. “Implying that Connor is aware we…reside—” A frown crossed his lips. No, wrong phrasing. “Connor is aware that we live together.”

 

The look that Markus gave him was confused to say the least. His brows furrowed further than normal, straightening up and staring at Simon. “…does that…bother you?”

“No—” Simon said, quicker than he had ever disagreed in his life. He stepped forward to emphasize his point, “I just didn’t realize that we were at that point--“

 

“Simon. We’ve been living together for months.”

 

“…Right.” He wet his lips, nodding. “I was just…”

 

Why did it always feel like he had to move mountains to sort through his thoughts when it came to Markus. Simon’s brain whirled, trying to process what he himself was trying to say and understand it at the very same time.

 

“I suppose I’m trying to stay that I was just confirming it. Confirming that you are telling others because it makes it feel real.” That seemed like a good enough explanation. Simon glanced over at him when he was finished, slightly startled to realize in the time it took him to sort his thoughts and voice them Markus had closed any gap between them and pressed his lips to Simon’s own.

 

He tipped his chin upwards, grabbing onto the front of Markus’ shirt and holding tightly. Simon’s eyes closed of their own accord, moving his lips easily with newfound ease against the other’s. By the time Markus pulled back, Simon was smiling. Soft, and gentle, and adoring.

 

“It is real.” Markus told him, reaching up and brushing his fingers ever so lightly over Simon’s cheek. He leaned into his hand—how could he not? “It’s real. You’re here with me.”

 

Simon smiled a little wider, his eyes still closed as he felt the tips of Markus’ fingers trail over his lower lip ever so softly. Almost hesitant.

 

It made him want to shiver.

 

Before he could process it too much, he kissed gently at the pad of Markus’ pointer finger. Simulated pride swelled in his chest when he felt the other still. To be able to affect another like that was a power he never thought he would wield.

 

After a short moment to think, Simon’s tongue slid along Markus’ finger, pulling the digit into his mouth and sucking on it lightly. There was a shift in Markus’ stance as he moved closer, and Simon felt a strong hand clasp around his hip and hold tightly.

 

Simon hummed lowly, opening his eyes part way to look at him with a hooded gaze. He held eye contact with him, letting Markus slide a second finger into his mouth all too easily. Simon’s hand slid up to grasp his wrist lightly, holding it in place as he dragged his tongue slowly along them. Markus was staring at him with such intensity it was only encouraging him further.

 

And they would have gotten further, had there not been a knock on the door.

 

Simon stepped back immediately, a faint blue tint hinting at his cheeks as Markus broke fully away to go and get the door.

He watched him pause to scan the room, and how Markus’ gaze drifted over briefly to where they had a handgun constantly stashed in the drawer. He seemed to deduce something, then crossed the rest of the apartment.

 

Simon was still mostly shielded by the curtains of Markus’ makeshift studio. He looked around as he gathered himself, tipping his head towards the sound of the newcomer’s voice.

 

“Good morning, Markus. Is it alright if we come in?” That was Connor, no doubt, and the heavy footsteps following behind him must be Lieutenant Anderson.

 

It was easy to tell. A lot of humans tended to drag their feet.

 

The blonde stepped out from behind the curtains, carefully pulling it closed behind himself. That was part of his and Markus’ sheltered private life, and he wanted to keep it that way.

 

It was noted immediately upon investigation that the Lieutenant’s hair was shorter than the last time Simon had seen him. His beard had also been trimmed, and a brief scan of his overall physique told Simon that he was just a little more in shape in general. A lot of their meetings had been in passing, the pair seemed to go everywhere together. If Connor was meant to be present at something for their cause or for the police department, the human wasn’t too far behind or vice versa.

 

Simon crossed over to Markus, who had already let the pair into their home. He came to stand by Markus’ side as he always did, his posture no longer relaxed or easing into Markus now that there were others here.

 

“Jesus. You guys turned this into a whole fucking establishment, didn’t you?” The Lieutenant commented, though Simon read his voice as dry. If Simon had thought it difficult to understand the emotions and thoughts of his fellow androids, humans were an entirely different story.

 

“We have made it a living place, yes.” Simon confirmed, his eyes narrowing just barely. “Would you like to come sit down?”

 

His tone must have shifted from judgmental to overly polite too quickly, as Anderson gave him a look.

 

Simon merely smiled and gestured to the couch.

 

It was Connor who went first, then backtracked and grabbed the Lieutenant’s sleeve and pulled him over to the sofa when they were directed. Simon watched all of this closely.

 

Interesting.

 

When Simon looked over, he realized that Markus had gone to lean against the potting bench. He had his hand against the surface behind him, and upon closer inspection Simon could see the subtle movement of his fingers tracing over the indents from the night before. The mismatched gaze shifted up to Simon’s face, gesturing him over with a slight nod of his head.

 

Simon smiled faintly, going over to be next to him. Close, but not too close. After a short moment he felt Markus’ fingers now gently brushing against the small of his back. A look over to the couch suggested that Lieutenant Anderson had not noticed, but Connor was watching them intently.

 

“I want to know more of what you were telling me, Connor.” Markus said, immediately. Always straight to the point. His voice had adopted the firm tone used during the many meetings Simon spent by his side. He knew it well.

 

Connor shifted on the sofa, his posture straightening. Beside him, Hank seemed a little uncomfortable- or perhaps unnerved by the impending conversation.

 

“We’ve investigated two murders lately, both with disturbing similarities.” Connor began, Simon noting the LED at the side of his head pulsating a steady blue as he relayed information. “Both the victims have been androids with similar causes of death. Their hearts have been removed and are still unable to be located.”

 

Simon felt Markus stiffen just a little beside him, those steady fingers curling into the back of Simon’s shirt almost as if he would disappear if Connor kept talking. He pressed back into Markus’ hand lightly to reassure him. Connor forged onwards.

 

“Both crime scenes have also been splattered with blue paint.”

 

Hank muttered something under his breath, rolling his shoulders. “Sick bastards—Listen. We’re not here to spook you, even though you probably are.” He lifted his hand, pushing it through his hair almost as if he were not used to the length just yet. “We’re just saying be careful. You’re both pretty damn important to everything you’re doing. Markus especially. Your face is fucking everywhere.”

 

It was Simon’s turn to shift closer. His hand dropped to his side, and he gripped the end of Markus’ shirt tightly. It was obvious how Connor’s eyes flickered down to witness the motion, then, for some reason, glanced over to Lieutenant Anderson. Hank was watching them with slight visible confusion, then sudden understanding.

 

Maybe he wasn’t as dense as Simon had originally thought.

 

Markus seemed to fall into a silence. He was stiff and tense and clinging to Simon.

 

Simon took the reins.

 

“Thank you for the warning, Connor—and you, Lieutenant. We will make sure to take a little more precaution than we already have. Please contact us if you need anything or if there is anything we can help with. Also, if this spreads further. This is…unfortunate.” Simon spoke coolly and collectedly, with the masked  and practiced ease he had seen Markus do a million times.

 

The practiced ease he had seen Markus grow so tired of, but kept performing.

 

Connor seemed to understand his cue, for he got to his feet, and tugged at his jacket to straighten it. Simon noted that the uniform was no longer CyberLife issue but seemed to be something of the DPD’s own design. At least it was nice to see integration somewhere. He stood there until the Lieutenant did the same in getting to his feet.

 

Markus did not move, so Simon did.

 

He followed the pair of them out, meeting Connor’s gaze once more and sensing the curiosity and understanding behind his eyes. Simon simply nodded towards him, “…Good luck.” He said, quietly, and then shut the door behind them.

 

A deep, unneeded breath was drawn in. His hand drifted up, hesitating before clicking the lock on the door.

 

When he turned, Markus was still where he had left him. His eyes were focused down on the ground, seemingly studying a small water stain so in depth that one must think it held a hidden clue to a long-lost treasure.

 

Simon crossed over to him, having no need for Markus to speak to understand what was going through his mind. It was one more thing to add to their growing list of problems. One more burden to supply its ever-increasing weight to Markus’ already overloaded shoulders. They had their moment of peace, but they should have known that it would never fully last. Though both of them silently wished it could have lasted a million lifetimes longer.

 

When Simon stopped before him he reached out, catching Markus’ sleeve between firmer and more confident fingers. There was a solid tug given, and no words needed.

 

Markus stepped forward into his arms, and Simon held him as tightly as he could. His face pressed to his shoulder and feeling Markus’ nose bury itself in his hair.

 

“You’re not alone.” Simon whispered, trying to ease what he could. “You’re strong, Markus, but you don’t always have to be, with me.”

 

His hand began to move slowly up and down his back in soothing motions, tracing every single segment in his cybernetic spine.

 

“It’ll be okay, Markus…We’ll be okay…”

 

It wasn’t a guaranteed truth, but the truth could be stretched every now and again for the sake of repairing sanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope y'all are ready, just saying
> 
> Talk to me on Twitter! @acornandroid


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Chapter 7

 

_ Tansy _ _– Invasive herb, meaning hostile thoughts and resistance_

It took some coaxing to lure Markus out of the apartment after Connor and Lieutenant Anderson had left. Simon insisted it would be good for the both of them, reassuring Markus’ somewhat more paranoid mind that they would be safe.

 

After thoughtfully locking the door they stood in front of their apartment, Simon’s plastic palm pressed flush against Markus’ for a short moment. It felt like he could calm him easiest when their minds were wound together. His chin tilted upwards, pressing the softest and most adoring kiss to his partner’s lips, telling him they would be okay with the million words he didn’t have.

 

In reality, Simon knew Markus wasn’t so much concerned for his own safety as he was for Simon’s and for the safety of their kind. They needed to work on his self-preservation—

 

Says the android who pulled his own heart out without hesitation.

 

He threaded their fingers together, a sensation that felt more intimate than ever. It was a shame that the synthetic skin slipped between their palms, giving the physical illusion of humanity once more. Holding hands like this would suffice, even though Simon would much prefer the private of their own living space and wasting away hours of the day tangled together in an electromagnetic mess. This was needed. Markus’ sanity was important, and Simon wanted to take some of that weight off his shoulders just for a little.

 

Their walk started slow- while there was a destination in mind, there was also a point to the act itself. A message had been relayed to both North and Josh, informing them that a discussion would be needed. Simon made sure they left with enough time in order to savor the walk. A form of peace before the coming storm.

 

The path Simon had chosen led them through the park. Brief memories flooded him, his mind’s eye supplying soft images of two small children running and playing, Simon himself not too far behind. He used to take them here before, and he wondered how they were now. If they ever blamed Simon for the death of their horrible father even though it was an understandable act of self-defense. Markus must have sensed something about his train of thought, for the hand gripping his squeezed slightly.

 

Simon squeezed back in reply.

 

“I’ve walked through here.” Markus commented, fighting the android habit to say silent, and pushing through with the human need for conversation. “Whenever I ran errands. I reasoned it as a shorter path to the bus stop.”

“It’s not.” Simon leaned into him a little.

 

“It is.” Markus argued immediately, his eyes scanning the pathway in the way Simon knew was calculating mathematically. “By 0.03 centimeters.”

 

That earned a laugh, and the smile that graced the corner of Markus’ mouth was the biggest achievement in Simon’s life. Some of that weight eased. Some of their cares were left forgotten.

 

The trees swayed slightly with the breeze as they neared the end of their detour. The bus stop wasn’t far away, and while it didn’t have sectioned off compartments between humans and androids anymore it still seemed like an ominous barrier to cross. Simon stood there, hanging onto Markus’ arm lightly and staring out across the street. A few humans came to stand beside them- then a couple androids as well. They were stealing shy glances, looking over—then looking back again to stare at Markus’ face as if he were some form of beautiful, other earthly being.

 

Which he was, though it made Simon’s stomach crawl with an unfamiliar, startling emotion. An urge that Markus was _his_ to look at, and _his_ to love. He frowned faintly and pushed it down. That was odd.  A small diagnostics test came back with the all clear.

 

The automated bus coming to a slow stop drew Simon out of his thoughts. He filed onto it with the rest of the people, holding onto Markus’ hand the entire time. Out of pure, unbeaten habit, he almost headed to the back. There was a pause when he realized the former ‘android compartment’ was shut down and roped off. The door was no longer functioning, but it was still a recent enough change that they had not remodelled the buses entirely yet. Simon was in a small daze as Markus tugged at him to sit down in one of the pairs of seats. He remembered days of standing in that back compartment holding a paper bag of groceries. Or hanging back and keeping a careful eye on the two children he had taken out to play at this very park as they sat far away from him. Worlds apart.

 

He felt Markus’ hand gripping his own, and the skin slipping away. Simon carefully opened up the connection to him as well, clasping his free hand over where they were folded and resting on Markus’ thigh. The bridge settled in between their consciousnesses easily, letting Markus’ thoughts wash over him and letting his slide out slowly in return. To speak without speaking with a deeper way of understanding, it meant the world to Simon. He knew in an instant that Markus was echoing his same thoughts in the moment.

 

They stayed like that through the entire ride, wrapped comfortably thought within thought. Simon’s gaze drifted out to the window, making out Markus’ profile in the corner of his eye as well. He watched the city slowly drift by, stop by stop until they neared the outskirts. A worn-down apartment building not unlike the one they currently resided in rose into view. He got to his feet, the synthetic skin sliding back over their hands and closing off the connection. The intimate conversation ended for now.

 

A quick scan of his memories brought up the direct route they needed. He had been here a couple of times before in the recent months. Take the stairs up to the third floor, then a left, then the fourth door on the right, and that was where North had staked her claim as home. According to the communications before they had left their own place, Josh was meeting them there as well. The impending conversation hung heavily over Simon’s head.

 

Markus only released Simon’s hand in order to open the door and enter the building. They started up the stairs, arriving at their destination in a few moments. Only one knock was needed before North pulled the door open and let them in silently. Markus first and Simon following right after.

 

A quick glance around the apartment had proved nothing had changed. North seemed to have just as much of a problem as Simon with making any décor _not_ resemble Jericho. Everything was repurposed, industrial, and hobbled together. Shelves and tables were constructed out of items that were not entirely intended for that purpose— including a box in one corner that Simon summarized more than likely had weapons in it.

 

Josh was already sitting on the arm of a beat-up sofa, looking out a smudged, frosted window and glancing over once the other two made their entrance.

 

“Alright.” North announced, immediately. She came to stand in the middle of the room, her arms folded over her chest. “Let’s talk then. I’ve seen the news.”

 

“Well it’s not like there’s a lot of news.” Josh spoke up, also crossing his arms over his chest, “I’ve only seen about one or two things. For the most part they’re trying to shove it under the rug.”

 

“Of course, they’re shoving it under the rug. They don’t want it put out there that our people are being murdered—they don’t care.” She looked at Josh sharply, then back at Markus.

 

Markus interjected before their bickering could continue further. His quiet voice still strong enough to silence an entire room. “We heard from Connor this morning. He and the Lieutenant are on the case.”

 

“It should just be Connor on the case. We don’t need human intervention with this. If we just had an android only division—”

 

“North. That’s enough.”

 

North gave Markus a look and fell silent. Though the subtle tightening of her jaw told Simon she wasn’t all that thrilled.

Simon took his cue to chime in. “Connor told us, which means we’re involved now. It is our people and our cause still. We can push this into the spotlight where it needs to be and talk about it, gather attention. As much as…. some of us dislike it, we need the humans to pay attention to this and be sympathetic. We’ve gotten them once through public opinion we can do it again.”

 

Markus was watching him as he spoke, nodding every once in a while, in silent agreement of his partner.

 

“So, you’re saying make a media spectacle of it.” Josh raised a brow, his attention now on Simon.

 

He considered that for a moment, then gave a shrug. “Not so much of a spectacle as it is just drawing a small amount of attention. A spectacle implicates a large show—a visually striking performance or display.” Simon listed off the dictionary definition easily, “We just need to talk about it subtly. Make it known without shoving it headfirst into the public eye.”

 

“Simon’s right.” Markus chimed in, earning a _look_ from North that everyone decided to collectively ignore.

 

“So, what then? We just say something and then sit by waiting for someone else to get killed?” North shot back, immediately on the defense. She looked between all three of them, then settled her glare onto Markus. “We can’t afford that. They’re slaughtering us—”

 

“It’s been two murders.” Simon started, “They’re on the case—”

 

“Two murders _now_. Then two is going to be three, and three is going to be four.” North took a step forward. “This needs more attention than just _saying_ something. We need to just take care of this ourselves—”

 

“And how are we going to do that?” Simon looked at her, his expression calm for the moment, “We don’t even begin to have the resources the police department does. We’ll need Connor for this and you know he is going to work with the DPD-“

 

“Because of that _human_ –”

 

“We all need to work together eventually. Dividing us all further is not going to get us anywhere-“ Simon’s voice raised just a little as North’s did.

 

“Enough.” Markus’ voice again sent the entire room into silence, barely piercing through the tension that had built between Simon and North’s gaze.

 

It hung heavily in the air for a few moments. Josh broke it after what seemed like eternity.

 

“You’re the face of this, Markus. What do you suggest we do?”

 

Three gazes turned towards him, Simon studying the posture of Markus’ body and the thoughts processing in his mind. He spoke after a carefully measured silence.

“I agree with Simon. We need to work with them for now, not just against them.”

 

North’s face contorted in irritation, storming past them and off to another part of her apartment. “We all know why you agree with Simon.” She muttered as she went.

 

That had been how the conversation ended.

 

Simon kept processing through it on the walk back to the bus stop, and the ride home. Somewhere along that time his fingers found themselves intertwined with Markus’ once again. He almost asked him that if they had not been involved romantically, would Markus still agree with him.

 

The squeeze to his hand gave him the exact answer he needed.

 

Simon’s head found its way to Markus’ shoulder, closing his eyes and concentrating on feeling the motions of the bus. He could sense the other’s presence beside him, and every subtle rock and rolling of the pavement beneath the vehicle. It gave him the time to relax, and to sort through all of the information he had filed away for later analysis.

 

He didn’t stir until Markus gave a gentle tug on his hand once they arrived at their stop. They trailed back through the park in silence, coming up to the front door of the building.

 

Suddenly, Markus paused, and Simon wasn’t entirely sure why. There was a sudden tension in his shoulders, and a subtle twitch of his fingers.

 

The blonde frowned, trying to follow Markus’ gaze but only seeing the door before them. He glanced around elsewhere. The stiffening of the android’s demeanor beside him did not spell out good things. Markus was worried—paranoid, and he could not figure out why just yet.

 

“Markus…?” Simon ventured, looking over at him.

 

Markus’ chest swelled with an unneeded breath, holding Simon’s hand impossibly tighter. “Stay behind me.” He said, firmly, then stepped forward and opened the door.

 

Their room was just up one flight of stairs and to the right. The understanding of Markus’ worry was so sudden once Simon saw their door ajar. He must have sensed something else at the entryway that Simon had not. Markus was always better at watching their surroundings, heeding potential dangers.

 

He hovered behind Markus just slightly as he pushed the door open. He must have done another quick scan of the apartment once he looked inside. “There’s no one here. It happened while we were gone.”

 

The strain in his voice was tinted with a form of heartbreak Simon had never heard before. When he looked around Markus’ shoulder he knew why.

 

Their apartment was in complete and utter disarray. Many things were broken, thrown around, and completely in havoc. Simon’s heart ached with such sudden sharpness that he almost thought it was breaking physically. As he stood there in the stunned, echoing silence for too long he could feel the subtle, imaginary cracks spreading across the new thirium pump in his chest.

 

The curtains around Markus’ painting space had been torn down, a horrific slash torn through the canvas of Simon’s face that had been so pristine that morning. Every other painting in the space was splashed and destroyed with blue paint.

 

Simon felt like he was going to be sick. His hands were shaking, and warnings were flashing across his vision. It looked like blue blood in every sense of the word- a horrific imitation of it.

 

The potting bench was overturned, and the legs broken. Pots and mugs lay scattered with spilled dirt and plants fanned out around it where it had been thrown. He broke away from Markus, stepping over and scooping up the one small plant that had thankfully survived. While the others had been smashed and destroyed, the tiny sprout of greenery that still sat in the pot Markus had given him all those months ago remained miraculously unharmed, only a little disturbed.

 

Simon clutched it close in trembling hands, trying to gently push the dirt back around it as if it would keep it safe from the world. If only he could do the same for the rest.

 

“Simon.” Markus’ voice barely caught his audio processors, turning around and directing his attention back to his partner. He was unaware of the clear, diluted thirium slipping from his own eyes, trailing down his cheeks in an imitation of tears. Markus wasn’t looking at him, he was staring at the couch instead.

 

He followed his gaze, and immediately wished he hadn’t.

 

The couch was splattered with blue paint as well- a horrific, one worded message written above it in crude, human smeared letters.

 

_BLEED_

On the couch, laying as if artistically placed in the middle, were two thirium pumps, surrounded with what Simon knew was not just blue paint- but fresh blue blood.

 

Simon clutched the potted plant tighter, his fingers sending hairline cracks into the clay pot. The clear thirium flow down his cheeks had not ceased and Markus had not moved. They stood there, stunned- rooted to the spot.

 

This had been their sanctuary, their place away from it all. Somewhere that wasn’t a broken down ship wired with explosives. Or a place they had to hide and keep themselves away from the world. It had been a _home_ and not just in the dictionary definition of the word. Simon had come to understand the meaning slowly but surely over the last few months, and understand it even more when he fell into a statis last night tangled with Markus on the couch.

 

That very couch that was now covered in the blood that pulsed through their wired veins and made them feel just a little more alive.

 

The blood that gave them a sense of mortality, the feeling of death that Simon had already experienced once. Not just flashes of warnings and the feeling of every single limb locking up without the flow, of information ceasing its traveling from place to place. It was the feeling of crawling blackness that clawed its way over his eyes and into his mind. It was finality, with no sanctuary and nowhere to hide.

 

Was nowhere safe?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Twitter: @acornandroid


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, edited by the lovely @becomegroovy on twitter

Chapter 8

 

_Thyme_ _– An herb meaning courage and strength_

When Simon looked back on this moment, it was the first time he remembered feeling _cold._

 

They were in the precinct now, seated on a cold chair in the middle of a cold room, with his entire being chilled to the core. The last few hours had been a blur of the police department showing up, Connor and the Lieutenant among them, and preliminary investigations being conducted. Now there was talk of concern for their safety, especially the safety of Markus himself. The situation didn’t have to be looked into too deeply for them to realize it was a personal attack, and a deep-rooted threat.

 

So here they were.

 

Simon was watching anything and everything, but not entirely processing the information. People were moving about. There were a few androids, the only giveaway to that fact was the LEDs cycling at their temples. Other than that, the uniforms were that of the human officers.

 

He felt hollow and numb. Not unlike how he used to feel before he broke through that solid red barrier of coding. Just following orders and commands, not entirely thinking on his own. It was a disconnection from himself and the world around him. Emotions proved to be too much in this moment.

 

 His eyes flickered down to the small potted plant he had resting in his lap. Simon moved almost automatically, pressing two fingers into the soil to make sure it was still damp.

 

The movement of Markus beside him caught his attention immediately. No matter how much his mind felt like an echoing, empty room right now, Markus brought him to his senses. It was the subtlest of shifts. Markus rolled his shoulders backwards as if to release some tension, and straightened up in the chair he was seated in.

 

It was as if he had aged ten years in the last few hours, even if his face showed no physical symptoms of it. It made the pump in Simon’s chest ache sharply and suddenly. A quick system check proved he was okay, that it was just an echo of emotions that seemed to be coming and going like waves ,like he was standing unsteadily on a shore. The water threatening to knock him down and pull him out into the abyss. He swayed and threatened to fall, standing strong only because he had an anchor with him. An anchor with a gentle figure and enough weight to hold him to the ground.

 

Simon reached out, wanting to offer the support that he liked to believe he could in a time like this. Simon placed his hand on Markus’ knee, taking a breath and waiting the silent beat before Markus reached up and curled his fingers loosely around his partners. They could be each other’s anchors to this shore, while the rest of the world crumbled away with shaking uncertainty.

 

Simons gaze fell upon their conjoined hands for the moment, steadily moving his thumb in circular motions over Markus’. It was a tactile sensation that made him turn up his sensors just a little. Anything to keep himself grounded and to keep his mind from wandering back to the destruction and disarray that their home had been in. The holographic police line fencing off their sanctuary, the two thirium pumps, confirmed to be from the recent murders, that sat taunting them sickeningly on the couch.

 

If Simon had a stomach to feel nauseous with, he was certain he would in this moment. Lieutenant Anderson had said he felt sick when he saw the damage that had been done, after arriving on the scene with Connor. A phrasing Simon latched onto, because it was an accurate, abstract descriptor to his current emotional state.

 

Connor’s face had remained impassive. Perhaps in a different way than it ever had, because the Lieutenant had seemed concerned.

 

“Tell me about it.” Markus’ voice caught his attention, causing Simon to glance over. He frowned faintly.

 

“Tell you about what?” Simon studied his expression for a short moment, as if that held any answers.

 

“The plant you’re holding. That’s the one I gave you.” The clarification was simple, as if he was not answering a question Simon silently had for the last few months. Of course, it was a simple deduction at the time that Markus had been the one to place the plant on the table at CyberLife, but Simon wasn't able to wrap his mind around it in order to truly believe. Now things were different.

 

Now he realized he should have known.

 

He pressed his lips into a thin line, looking back down at the pot in his hands. He scanned it, though he already had a million and one times before. Maybe it was just to make sure he had it right, or maybe it was just to steady himself as much as he could. It took a few moments before he opened his mouth to answer Markus.

 

“It’s a lavender. Though it hasn’t bloomed yet, which made it a little hard to tell.” Simon ran his fingers over the pot lightly, and gripped Markus’ hand all the tighter. “Do you know what it means?”

 

“It’s considered a symbol of love and devotion.” Markus listed off, all too easily, looking over at Simon and holding his gaze.

 

Simon felt his heart stop—stagger—and then restart its cycle. He stared at Markus and let the silence echo. Even though this was the worst possible place, the worst possible situation, the other android always managed to render him speechless and breathless.

 

“...You asked me what an aloe meant.”

 

“I wanted to hear you talk about it.” Markus leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss to Simon’s forehead which he automatically closed his eyes upon receiving. “I want to hear you talk about everything. To smile. I want to always see you happy, Simon, and I’ll bring that back in any way I can.”

 

The breath Markus drew in was soft before he continued. It caused the gentle ache again to Simon’s chest, knowing that Markus was taking this burden upon himself wholly.

 

“We’ll get it back, Simon. If mountains will have to be moved to do so…we will get what we’ve had back.” He reached up, brushing the sandy blonde hair away from Simon’s forehead with the utmost care. It was a subtle touch of his fingers that nearly made Simon weak in the knees. His touched trailed gently over the arch of his cheek, then dropped off in favor of winding his arm around Simon’s shoulders instead.

 

He leaned into him, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

 

“You’re not doing this alone, Markus. You know that, don’t you?”

 

There was a stretch of silence, but before Markus could respond Connor stepped up to them.

 

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Connor was scanning them briefly, Simon could tell by the pulsing of that ring of light at the side of his head. He seemed to conclude something, because it stilled and went back to a steady blue. The android glanced behind himself, then stepped back and leaned against the desk he was standing near. It seemed to take Connor a moment to mimic what would be considered a natural, human action. The movements were awkward at first, then settled in naturally.

 

Markus shook his head. He straightened, but kept his arm looped around Simon in an action that the blonde read as nothing short of protective.

 

“We’ve been…. talking about your case for a while now.” Connor said, slowly. It didn’t take long for Lieutenant Anderson to step up beside him, standing close to the RK800 as if he were keeping an eye on him. It didn’t take up much of his processors for Simon to tell that everything had set Lt. Anderson on edge for Connor’s safety as well. “And we’ve come to the conclusion that it is not safe for you to return to where you have been staying.”

 

“Not safe is a fucking understatement.” Lieutenant Anderson interjected, folding his arms over his chest. “Listen, it’s clear you two are a target. Probably more Markus specifically.”

 

Markus shifted slightly beside Simon, and the hand Simon had placed on his leg squeezed slightly. Just to remind him he was there.

 

“So, we’re gonna have to put you two somewhere where someone can keep an eye on you.”

 

Simon frowned faintly at the human’s words, looking up at him. “Into hiding?” He asked, finally, “What exactly are you suggesting?”

 

“Hank—” Interesting. Connor addressed him by his name, and not title. Simon filed that away for later when he could think properly, sticking it with evidence he had already gathered, “—is suggesting that you come and stay with us. We’re both the most qualified to keep an eye on you, and I believe it is a better option that staying here at the precinct. A home is more pleasing than staying in a holding cell until the case is completed.”

 

Markus glanced at Simon, studying his gaze for a moment. They had a silent, mutual agreement, as they did with most things. Simon nodded, and Markus returned the gesture. It was settled then.

 

“We’ll go.” Markus said, rubbing his thumb slowly over his partner’s shoulder. “On one condition- I want to help with this investigation where I can. If we’re targets, then there must be something that connects us to them.”

 

Connor and Hank exchanged a look and seemed to share the same connection. Connor nodded subtly, and the older man glanced back over.

 

“Deal. Though can’t guarantee how much we can let you into this, Markus. We’re just gonna keep you two safe for now.” Hank stepped away, more than likely going to set the rest of the affairs in order.

 

The android seated in front of them blinked, his LED spinning for a short moment. He looked back over to Simon and Markus. “You’ll have to excuse him. Sometimes Hank says things more bluntly than he means to.” Connor nodded, as if you punctuate his sentence.

 

He stuck two fingers into his pocket, producing a coin before continuing.

 

“We converted a room into a guest room last month. I’m sure it will be suitable.” He frowned faintly, “Hopefully.” Connor rolled the coin over his fingers, then pushed off of the desk. “I’ll make sure the rest of this is in order. Then I’ll let you know when we’ll leave.”

 

He left Simon and Markus to sit in silence again.

Simon drew in a slow breath. He pressed two fingers into the soil to make sure it was still damp.

 

Markus reached over and took his hand gently, as if to pull him away from the now therapeutic and grounding gesture and give him something else to hold onto.

 

“Are you sure this is best?” Simon ventured, even though he had already cycled through the options himself.

 

Markus nodded, “Better than hiding underground again.” He reasoned, “We’re done with darkness, Simon. At least we’ll stay in the light.”

 

Simon watched their conjoined hands, closing his eyes and leaning closer when he felt the soft press of lips against his cheek. “We’ll stay in the light.” Simon echoed in confirmation.

 

-

 

It took another few hours before Connor and the Lieutenant wrapped up what they were doing. Most of the station had begun the switch of staff for the night. Simon hovered near Markus as they followed the other pair out of the building, towards a small parking lot at the side.

 

Simon observed that the car they were heading to was a manual vehicle.

 

He watched with muted curiosity as Connor got into the passenger seat. Markus pulled the door open and suddenly paused, which Simon took as his cue to get into the car as well. Sometimes Markus made the simplest of human courtesies seem awkward, but it was in such an endearing way.

 

Markus climbed in after him, and Simon situated the small plant carefully in his lap. The headlights clicked on after the car was started. Simon was studying Lieutenant Anderson from where he was seated, and a glance over at Markus proved that he was doing the same. The music that flickered on was loud at first, which startled Simon somewhat, but Connor reached out and turned it down assumedly for their sake.

 

Simon’s gaze went distantly out the window, tracing the buildings as they passed. From the map of the city he possessed mentally he was able to tell that due to the right turn that was just made they were heading for a more suburban area. It would be interesting to see, if he was going to try and look at the brighter side of things. All his life had been spent in either city apartments or hiding underground.

 

Beside him, he could practically hear Markus’ thoughts. When his eyes tracked over to his partner he noted that mismatched gaze was staring blankly ahead. A thousand and one gears turning silently behind those eyes. Simon wished he knew what he was thinking, but he didn’t have the words to ask in that moment. They were around others, and this situation was something that none of them saw coming.

 

Sure, Simon expected hate. He had expected the backlash and the resistance. It was a known face ever since he saw the first of his kind fall to the ground, soaked in blue blood. The messy part of the revolution had been over, and he had foolishly allowed himself to dip into a sense of slight security.

 

Until the attack had been made personal and shown up right in their living room.

 

Simon reached out, grasping Markus’ hand slowly and curling his fingers around the other’s. They had to be each other’s lifeline now, though he feared he felt Markus slipping a million miles away. No matter how hard he grabbed him, he felt the smallest of movements that threatened to fall straight through his fingers.

 

He was scared. He was worried and confused. A complete mess of emotions that tainted what good they had going for them only just a while earlier. Simon wished he could whisk them both away to somewhere safe. Just to somewhere to be themselves and be purely _happy._

 

That seemed like a foolish dream.

 

Markus’ fingers twitched just barely, then gripped at Simon’s lightly in return. A small, barely-there flicker of hope spiked warmly in Simon’s heart. A couple of fingers were still hooked tightly onto the edge of this cliff. All they had to do was hold on just long enough to pull themselves back up once more.

 

They had managed to do it once before, and hopefully they could do it again.

 

Simon glanced up when they pulled into the driveway of a house finally. He scanned the yard idly, noting that it had only recently been taken care of again, judging by the new growth. In the darkness he could make out flowers that had only just been planted by the door, judging by the difference in the consistency of soil around them.

 

He made his move to get out of the car when the pair in the front seat did, still somewhat tense with the silence and clinging to the surviving plant he still held to.

 

Lieutenant Anderson had stepped to the door and seemed to be digging around for his keys. Connor brushed past him, moving with automatic familiarity as the cybernetic lock opened with a flash of the RK800’s LED. Hank grumbled something, Connor’s hand brushed barely at the bottom of the human’s jacket as he slipped inside. Simon observed and filed it away silently.

 

A loud bark from inside startled him, and he instinctually placed himself a step in front of Markus. The hand that found its way to his shoulder was firm, yet forgiving.

 

“It’s a dog.” Markus’ voice explained, softly, nudging Simon towards the door. “I saw pictures on Connor’s desk.”

 

Simon eased just somewhat, offering a small nod as he ventured before Markus regardless. Just in case the dog was any sort of dangerous creature.

 

His blue eyes widened just slightly when he caught sight of the massive thing that had jumped up onto Connor. That was no dog, that was clearly a small bear of some sorts.

 

“Sumo wouldn’t hurt a fucking fly.” The human seemed to address Simon’s concern as he walked past him, dropping his jacket carelessly onto the entryway table. “Connor just spoils him with treats. Fucking idiot.”

 

There was no bite behind the Lieutenant’s words, but Simon still looked at him curiously. As if on cue, Connor produced the aforementioned treat from an inside pocket of his jacket, letting the dog take it right into his slobbering mouth. Simon’s nose scrunched up just slightly.

 

He turned his gaze to look around he home instead.

 

It wasn’t exactly a large home, but it wasn’t small either. Judging by the lack of a certain amount of dust it had been recently cleaned. There was a vase of fresh cut flowers sitting on the kitchen table that was visible as soon as Simon wandered further into the home. There was a food and water bowl presumably for Sumo laying on the floor in the kitchen, which Connor was filling with the large beast waiting close by, his tail wagging and thumping onto the android’s leg each time.

 

There were simple things, like a TV and a couch with a blanket draped over it, suggesting that Lieutenant Anderson laid there more often than not. Down the hallway offered doors to what he assumed were a bedroom and a bathroom given the general, stereotypical layout of most homes on the outside of the city. It took Simon just a little while longer to realize Markus had barely moved beside him, and that he wasn’t scanning the room like he normally would. Or perhaps he already had. He was much quicker at those sorts of things than Simon was.

 

“So, go down that way, take a left. That’s Co—the guest room.” There was something in the way Lieutenant Anderson halted his sentence that caught Simon’s attention. It was the way he seemed to drop off and his expression changed into something akin to those sad sculptures Simon had seen when he had taken the children he watched to the museum.

 

Any chance he had to address it was lost, for the Lieutenant moved away towards the kitchen and Connor took his place.

 

“We set it up recently.” Connor echoed what he had said at the station. As if it offered all the explanation that was needed. “I know we don’t sleep, but it will give you both a place of your own until this is solved.”

 

“Thank you, Connor.” Simon nodded, noticing that Markus had not spoken aside from when they had first entered the home. He looked over, then reached out and gently took his partner’s hand as if to guide him. The far off look on his face was starting to worry him to his processing core. He just wanted to be alone, and to sit with Markus. Hopefully it would give them both a chance to comprehend what was happening.

 

The guest room, when they arrived, was simple. Simon picked up the scent of fresh paint, noting that all the furniture had been replaced, the only evidence of the former pieces left scarred into the carpet that still remained. There was a queen-sized bed in the middle. Nothing entirely special.

 

He watched Markus break away from him and go to close the curtains. From the way he held himself, Simon knew he was paranoid. Markus was tense and on edge, ready for danger at any second. There was that subtle locking of his spine that looked to Simon as if he were going to snap in half.

 

He crossed the room too him, and carefully pulled the curtain aside just a little, placing the lavender plant onto the windowsill in the sunlight before closing them again. They could be shrouded from sight, but he wanted to make sure that the plant was alright and cared for. Simon’s hand touched the small of Markus’ back—and then immediately pulled it away.

 

“…You brought the gun?” Simon stared at him, studying Markus’ profile.

 

After a moment, there was a slow nod.

 

“Yes. I did.” Markus looked at him, and it was best decided for Simon to question further. He simple nodded and took a careful step back, shrugging out of his jacket. While he wasn’t physically tired he was _tired._

 

Simon settled on the edge of the bed, toeing out of his shoes. He felt it dip next to him as Markus’ weight settled onto the other side. Careful fingers reached out, tracing over Simon’s now bare spine and sending a shudder down it. The skin bled away, then eased back in like trails made in smooth sand.

 

He laid down when Markus’ hand was no longer present, blue eyes staring fixed to one point as the android laid beside him. Simon met that mismatched gaze, trying desperately to understand the millions of words that Markus was leaving buried within himself. Sometimes he wished he had a shovel, just so he could dig him out of that personal grave that he had seemed to settle in.

 

Simon broke his gaze for just a short moment, noting that Markus had shed his jacket and shirt as well. He was not entirely sure where the gun had gone, but he did not see it on the bedside table close by them, so it must have been hidden away. Markus lifted his arm in silent invitation, and Simon moved closer.

 

It felt safe to tuck up against him, even though everything about their current situation was not. Simon tried to focus instead on the weight of Markus’ arm around his body, and how he so easily slid his own around the other’s waist in return. He slotted against him so perfectly that he didn’t dare move an inch. Soft lips brushed his hair in a barely there kiss.

 

Simon frowned faintly, glad Markus couldn’t see it. Something about it felt different and distant. Almost as if Markus were just moving through motions. It scared him, quite honestly. Or maybe that was just the feelings of all these events that were happening one right after the other. He noted slowly that Markus had not taken his hand this time.

 

These thoughts were invasive and unwelcomed, almost like the intruders that had been in their home. Simon felt as if they were only there to poison what good he had just gotten. Markus loved him, and he loved Markus.

 

He hoped—he _prayed_ that Markus being swept out with the tide as it pulled slowly and strongly from the shore was just his imagination.

 

-

Simon wasn’t entirely sure when he slipped into a stasis, but he had. He knew from the grogginess of waking up, all of his sensors coming back online slowly. It wasn’t the pleasant feeling it had been the first time, instead now it felt like a daze.

 

The spot in the bed beside him was empty.

 

His thirium pump clenched in a painful imitation of human heartache.

 

When he sat up it didn’t take a scan of the room to deem that Markus was nowhere to be found. No painting studio for him to slip away to now. No warm moments of Simon watching his shadow move peacefully behind the curtains.

 

It was empty, and he was alone. There was a silent moment of selfish thoughts, his mind flashing back to that rooftop of its own accord. How could Markus just _leave_ him.

 

Simon took a slow, calming breath before getting to his feet. He found his long sleeve undershirt and shrugged it on slipping his thumbs back through the holes. The curtain was opened next, following almost automatic, distant habit to check on the small lavender plant. Considered a symbol of love and devotion. It still hadn’t bloomed.

 

Would it ever?

 

He filed those thoughts as far away as he could, leaving the curtain open and stepping out of the room.

 

Markus was still in the house, as he had expected. Though waking up feeling entirely alone had been something that he did not expect. Another unexpected moment was the hush that fell over the table where Markus and Connor were speaking, the second Simon entered the room.

 

He regarded them both, unsure of what that meant. Was something being hidden now? Something Markus didn’t want him to hear?

 

Why did it _hurt_?

 

There was a cup of coffee waiting by the chair next to Connor, the other two seats at the small table were folding chairs that must have been brought in from the garage judging by the dust still resting on the legs. Simon noted that Hank and Connor more than likely never really had company over.

 

Markus wordlessly pulled out the chair beside him, and gestured for Simon to sit. He nodded, eyeing Sumo resting in the corner with somewhat of a cautious glance before taking the spot next to his partner.

 

Markus leaned over, pressing his lips to his temple softly.

 

At least not all was lost.

 

“Simon, Markus and I were discussing something earlier that I would like you to be made aware of as well.” Connor started, immediately to the point as he stared at the two across from him. “Your model is more...common, should you need to venture out it would be safer for you, but Markus is safer here. He is more noticable.”

Simon looked over at the android beside him, reaching out and setting his hand over Markus’.

 

“I’m not going anywhere he isn’t.” He said, matter-of-factly. “If Markus is staying here then I am too.”

 

Connor and Markus shared a look, which Simon couldn’t entirely place. Any question he was thinking to vocalize was cut off by Hank shuffling into the room finally dressed in a old worn shirt and sweats, he touched Connor’s shoulder as he passed, then backtracked to sit down once the RK800 tugged on his arm and nodded towards the coffee he had already placed out. Connor himself was wearing a Detroit Police Department hoodie that was more than two sizes too big for him. Simon’s brow set slightly in a furrow as he processed it. It was more and more obvious now, but he didn’t entirely want to assume.

 

A look at Hank’s face seemed to suggest a similarity in the same hollow feeling Simon felt was opening up between him and Markus. Maybe this case was hard on all of them.

 

“One of us will be staying home with you for the time being.” Connor tilted his head, his LED stuck on a soft blue as he spoke. Simon idly wondered why he hadn’t gotten rid of it yet. “Hank will be going into work for a moment today but I will stay here, tomorrow we’ll switch.”

 

Hank snorted, seemingly still waking up. “Cause Connor’s got an entire schedule written out, don’t you, Connor?”

 

“Yes. I’m glad you noticed. I left it on the dresser this morning.”

 

Simon observed Hank roll his eyes, and mumble something intelligible into his coffee.

 

“I can work on the case remotely,” Connor continued, as if Hank hadn’t voiced whatever sassy remark he had, “Your input will be of great help. I know you both have been more involved than I have with this cause. I’ve stepped in where I can, but I enjoy the police work.”

 

Simon noted the shift in Connor’s posture, his arm resting angled just a little towards Hank at the table. The position judged that he was resting his hand on the human’s leg. Simon squeezed his fingers against Markus’.

 

Markus didn’t squeeze back.

 

He felt his heart clench again.

 

The rest of the conversation drowned out against his audio processors, his mind working a million miles a minute to figure out where he had misstepped. Or, no, it must be the current situation. That was all that had changed.

 

Though why would it change them so drastically? Sure, it had added even more to what Markus carried everyday, but even the day prior they had been talking about staying in the light.

 

Simon squeezed his hand again, desperate for the silent reassurance.

 

This time, Markus squeezed back, but ever so barely, as if it were an afterthought.

 

The light had shifted, and Simon hoped they could find it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Talk to me on Twitter! @acornandroid


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gentle trigger warning: very brief mention of semi sucidal thoughts

Chapter 9

 

_ Iris _ _– A flower that earned its name from the ancient Greek Goddess, a messenger to the gods._

Three days had passed. Simon tracked the movement of time almost in a daze. He stayed up to watch the sunset, woke from his stasis in time to see the sunrise.

 

True to his word, he had stayed with Markus as much as the other android allowed him to. He found himself waking up alone more often than not, a fact which he tried to not let bother him. Markus was always somewhere to be found within the house regardless. Sometimes, he stayed up all night talking to Connor.

 

About what, they never let him in on. It was like a closed door, and every time Simon tried to peer through the keyhole something blocked it.

 

He trusted Markus though, something he kept reminding himself of

 

A trust which he now wished went both ways.

 

It was around noon on the third day that Simon ventured out of the room again, carrying the small lavender plant that he clung to as a comfort. It needed water, and though there was a bathroom nearby, he decided that the trek to the kitchen would be better to clear his mind.

 

What he did not expect to see was Connor seated at the kitchen table, reading through a physical paper book with the manner and speed of a human. The only giveaway to his true nature was the LED pulsing through a slow circle of blue, a brief yellow, and then settling onto a steady blue again. He was thinking.

 

Simon’s steps slowed, then he continued his walk to the sink. He wasn’t entirely sure where he and Connor stood. The RK800 seemed to spend more time talking to Markus than anyone else, and it brought up that feeling of being unwelcomed.

 

“Why are you so concerned with that plant?” Connor spoke up as soon as Simon had turned on the faucet to add in the appropriate amount of water. A glance over his shoulder proved the other android had set down the prehistoric compendium and was now staring at Simon.

 

Simon turned to look at him fully, setting the pot in the sink so the water could drain through. “I like caring for things.”

 

Connor seemed to consider that for a moment, tilting his head.

 

“Isn’t that part of your basic programming?”

 

“Isn’t police work part of yours?”

 

Connor eyed him, the LED rotating as he processed that. There was a brief pause before he spoke again. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.”

 

Simon worried his lower lip in an adopted act of thought, leaning his body back against the counter lightly.

 

“I also do it because it is something I’ve decided on my own to do. No one told me to care for it, but I want to. Is that why you still work where you do?”

 

Connor seemed to think over that again, his gaze flickering down to the book he had been reading. “…Yes. It was my choice to stay with the police force, and to stay with Lieutenant Anderson.”

 

The subject he had been wanting to question presented itself all too easily. Simon had been hoping he was piecing together social cues better than he had before.

 

“You and the Lieutenant…” Simon started, slowly. He needed to choose his words carefully in this situation. “Are you…involved?”

 

“You mean as in the sense you and Markus are involved with one another?” Connor’s head tipped to the side, as if a puppy trying to tune into a new sound for the first time.

 

“Yes. Romantically.” The blonde watched him, studying how Connor’s relaxed posture was somehow stiff and unmoving, as if it had settled that way and then locked up.

 

Connor’s LED spun as he processed his reply, blinking artificially and slowly down at the closed book before him. “I’m not quite…sure.” He said, slowly.

 

That earned a frown from Simon, the PL600 wandering closer to the table. “How could you not be sure?”

 

“Humans are…complicated in many ways. I asked Hank if he loves me, but he seems to evade the topic without giving a true affirmative answer. Something he said this morning leads me to believe that it could be a heavier possibility that my…feelings are returned. Though he did…kiss me.” There’s a ghost of a smile across Connor’s lips.

 

Simon watches all of his movements with careful observation, sorting through all the other information he’s stored away and comparing it to the new evidence presented to him. He paused, some of the information not adding up to exactly what he had assumed. Strange.

 

“So, you haven’t….” Simon trailed off, suddenly unsure if what he was about to say next was appropriate or not.

 

Connor’s eyes narrowed into a slight squint, trying to fill in the blanks presented. “….I don’t understand, Simon.”

 

“Been…involved?”

 

“I just told you we are involved.”

 

“Been _involved_ —” Simon emphasized.

 

“…No. Hank and I have not engaged in sexual intercourse yet.”

 

The way Connor said it was so plain that Simon choked on absolutely nothing. He rubbed the back of his neck shyly, the hint of blue at his cheeks barely visible but ever present. So, this was what humans defined as being ‘flustered’. How on earth did they talk about these sorts of intimate things so freely?

 

“But you’re wearing his sweatshirt.” Simon observed, causing Connor to look down at himself.

 

“I don’t see how wearing Hank’s sweatshirt is a sign that we are engaging in sexually explicit activities.” He frowned, his lower lip sticking out in somewhat of a pout. “I like it. Its comfortable.”

 

For a moment, Simon could hardly believe he was teaching a more advanced model than him about the subtle signs of being involved with a human. Even Simon himself had slipped on Markus’ coat from time to time and they were both androids. He had seen glimpses of TV shows. It was common for the stereotypical gorgeous female to wear the handsome man’s oversized shirt to imply they had a night of sexual activities.

 

Again, that was the bare bone stereotype.

 

“Well…in media specifically that is typically a way to signal to the audience that two characters are engaged with one another.”

 

“Do you wear Markus’ clothes then?”

 

“His coat…on occasion.”

 

Connor paused. “Oh.”

 

Silence washed over both of them. Simon removed the pot from the sink and ventured over to the table, carefully seating himself across from Connor. He was working through exactly what he wanted to say. There was another, more pressing subject that Simon wished to bring attention to. He feared that if he approached it in the wrong manner then Connor would skitter away like a wild animal.

 

Simon’s stiff posture shifted, his gaze going down to the lavender plant for a brief moment.

 

“You’ve been talking to Markus.” Simon didn’t question it, it was a statement.

 

Connor paused, and once again the dead giveaway of that cycling mood ring at his temple circled slowly. “Yes. I have.”

 

“…I’m aware it’s things neither of you want me to hear. For whatever reason.” He treaded carefully, feeling his feet slip out onto an icy lake. The surface sent hairline fractures out from wherever his weight pressed. “But I’m just…concerned.”

 

“Concerned?” Connor echoed, “In what way?”

 

“About Markus.” He pressed his lips into a thin line, “He feels…distant now. I’m not sure if there’s anything you could tell me about.”

 

Simon glanced up at him, feeling the ice crack further beneath his feet as he merely flexed his toes. Connor’s expression seemed impassive, but the LED spun in such a fashion that informed Simon there were things beneath the surface of the lake that was too clouded for him to see.

 

Connor was hesitating. He was concealing, or at least Simon assumed so. That familiar squeeze returned to his chest. A small, bitter part of him wanted Connor to lie, because he knew he would in this situation. It was something that had been stifled carefully away from Simon’s eye.

 

No wonder Markus hadn’t interfaced recently. There were things he didn’t want him to see.

 

Connor was going to lie.

 

Simon beat him to it.

 

He smiled politely, getting to his feet. “Sorry. It’s probably nothing. If it was he would tell me. We’re all just on edge right now…” Simon nodded, as if to punctuate his semi-bitter, petty point. “Nice talking to you, Connor. Good luck.”

 

The blonde stepped away from the table, picking up his plant, his safety blanket, and heading back down the hall. He didn’t dare look back at Connor, he didn’t entirely want to know what he was up to now anyways.

 

-

 

Simon found his steps leading out towards the backyard. He hardly knew where else to go. It was one of few places he could. While there was still the knowledge that he was safer to come and go than Markus was, doing so without him would feel like a betrayal.

 

There were two steps that led down from the backdoor and out into the yard. The yard itself an expanse of green grass, a small garden bed off to one side with a bird bath sitting in the middle of it. If Simon looked close enough he could almost see the outline of something that had been there once before it, something he would be familiar with working with children, but he hardly had the interest.

 

Instead, he sat himself on the second step, sleeves pulled up over his hands. Simon sat, his eyes fixated on no point in particular. Careful fingers hooked into the neck of his shirt, pulling it up over his nose as he thought.

 

He thought.

 

And thought.

 

There really wasn’t much else to process, really.

 

Simon had been over everything a million and one times in the last few days. He had replayed situations, countless ones that he could think of. If they had just shown up home a little earlier, if the person who had done this to their home had been just a little sloppier and left a trace. All of this would be over, the case and the murders would be solved.

 

He could be _home_ with Markus and not have to wrack his brain with doubt and struggling self-worth. If he could just find the right words to ask, but he had never been quite good at that.

 

Simon closed his eyes briefly.

 

Like the rooftop—questions sitting heavily on his tongue coated in his own blue blood. Warnings flashing quicker than he could clear them out. Pure, carefully masked panic and not for the first time in his life. He could hear their discussion. North had wanted to shoot him.

 

Why couldn’t they just have taken him?

 

No. Instead—

 

_The cold metal of the gun pressed into his hand. The brush of Markus’ fingers that he selfishly saved knowing it would be the last time. The struggle to get to his feet as they left him behind. He had hidden himself away—scared. So **scared**._

_There had been humans on the roof. He could hear them walking around outside. Simon thanked his creator for the first time that he didn’t have the need to breathe. Just to stand there, barely able to support his own weight and his finger ever on the trigger._

_They had gotten close a few times—and in those moments he ran through a thousand scenarios._

_They couldn’t know where Jericho was._

_More than once he experimentally pressed the gun beneath his chin, his finger hesitating on the trigger. Simon registered that his hand was shaking, and he carefully locked his joints to still it. He whispered things to himself, the volume of his static voice turned down so low that he was mouthing the words. Things he knew he would more than likely not have the chance to repeat, or even ever say aloud where anyone could hear._

_He lowered the gun and put it back more than once, as if mentally preparing himself for what he would have to do. To keep them all safe—to keep **Markus** safe._

_Minutes turned to hours. Hours had turned to night. Simon had watched the sunset stream in through the narrow slits of metal as if a blanket of comfort were being draped over him._

_A cover, a way out and a chance back. There was no longer movement outside when Simon carefully made his way out of his hiding spot._

_He gracelessly fell out and onto the floor, landing on his back and staring up at the clouded sky. The moon barely visible—he remembered the snow falling against his face._

_It had taken so much effort to stand, but he managed. His hand pressed to the bullet wound in his leg, knowing he would have to seal the gaping hole in the plastic body somehow. Simon dragged himself to the door, the gun tight in his grip._

_The realization hit him so hard he nearly collapsed. If he made it back to Jericho, he knew he would forgive them._

_He’d forgive all of them, even North. They did what they had to do, despite this moment that Simon knew would be etched into his memory banks forever. How scared he had been to know it could have all ended in a second._

_How scared he was to realize that he’d to this all again if Markus asked—which now he wasn’t quite so certain he wouldn’t._

_If Markus needed it, if it kept Markus safe, he’d pull the trigger. He’d give everything he had for him._

The sound of the backdoor opening and shutting drew Simon out of his memories. The only evidence a slow breath drawn in and his fingers flexing every so subtly against where the held the soft fabric over his nose and mouth.

 

“Simon?”

 

It was Markus’ voice, of course it was. He closed his eyes, not making any move to get up or even indicate anything at all. He heard Markus pause behind him, heard his feet shift ever so slightly against the concrete of the steps. A drag of those boots he wore that felt so loud Simon’s ears almost rung.

 

“…You should come inside. There’s something you need to see.”

 

-

 

Simon felt like the wind had been knocked out of him, watching the frozen image on the screen. It was a paused moment of a looping video, the steady slow dripping of blue blood onto the floor in a mocking way that made him feel sick to his artificial stomach.

 

“When did this air?” Markus was the first one to speak, standing in the middle of the Anderson living room staring at the TV.

 

“It aired on the main channels exactly fifteen minutes and twenty seconds ago. I got the alert, and Hank called to inform me it was playing on the television in the station break room as well.” Connor said, as if he were listing off facts from an internet article. Simon hated how calm he was.

 

“Can they trace it?” Markus’ voice- somehow even calmer.

 

Simon wanted to scream.

 

“No. None of the attempts have been successful. We can’t even get a location on it. Whoever this is…knows what they’re doing.”

 

The TV flickered to life, thanks to Simon’s brief and silent command. He needed to see this again.

 

The sick looping video. Blue blood spilling onto the floor, rewinding, and dripping again as if it were being bled slowly from someone. The voice, that Simon felt a sudden frightening urge to just strangle to silence.

 

 _“You’re not the only one who knows how  to hack broadcasts.”_ It said, slow and thoughtful, “ _You thought you were special. Your revolution. Speaking for masses. A moment in a city that could never be yours. Built from the ground up by humans. The same humans who made you.”_

The image flickered, then settled back to loop again.

 

_“We won’t stop until you’re gone, and all of this falls apart. We know others feel the same—and we encourage them to rise up just as you have.”_

It flickered, and this time settled on the very thing that made Simon’s insides churn.

 

A still image of him and Markus right outside their building. It had been such a sweet moment that Simon remembered perfectly. The cradling of Markus’ hand against his cheek, the ghosting warmth of his arm around his waist.

 

The brush of his lips, so warm and comforting.

 

“ _They need to be eliminated, and we will not rest until this is undone. Make them pay. The RK200 and the PL600, serial numbers—”_

 

The TV shut off abruptly, Markus’ reflection showing in the black screen. Simon’s chest rose with a deep breath and his jaw set, it flickered back on with a twitch of his eye—

 

And shut off immediately.

 

“That’s _enough.”_ Markus’ voice was stern, enough so that Simon turned his head to glance at him.

 

The silence that followed was tense. Simon met the other’s gaze, holding it evenly and almost challengingly.

 

He wanted to fight. He wanted to scream and yell and go in there and tear whoever this was apart. Bubbling rage akin to his first moment of deviancy threatened to burst at every seam. Right now, he was in the moment, he was heated, though he knew he should know better. Simon handled all of it with a terrifying outer calm, one that he knew he could rationalize once he had a moment to process.  

 

They needed to be calculated about this. Simon had his brush with death a few times, and he wasn’t too keen on one more.

 

Connor was the first to break the silence.

 

“…Neither of you can leave now. There is no evidence suggesting they know you are here.” He said, carefully. “They were using a voice modulator. The blood suggests that they have another victim. Once the body is found we should be able to investigate further. I’ll stay here with you until we have more information—”

 

Connor cut off abruptly, his LED suggesting he was getting an incoming message. The detective tipped his head to the side and stepped out of the room. “Lieutenant—”

 

Simon listened to Connor’s conversation drop off, his eyes still having never left Markus. That mismatched gaze moved back, staring at Simon for a moment longer.

 

“…What are you thinking, Markus?” Simon voiced finally, his voice somewhat small in the empty room.

 

The silence that stretched was not a comfortable one. It was one that Simon felt physically, as if someone were drawing any ease out of him slowly and painfully. A false sense of security being pulled away like a tablecloth under fine china. Not quickly, but with a purpose to topple everything to the floor.

 

“…I can’t tell you, Simon.” Markus answered, his eyes never leaving him. “Please…it’s for the best.”

 

Simon felt the shattering of the cups and saucers, almost heard them audibly in his processors.

 

He wet his lips as an attempt to ground himself. A small nod was given—and a step back.

 

A step back.

 

Markus did not step forward.

 

A step back.

 

“…I thought you trusted me.”

 

“I do. I’m just keeping you safe-“

 

Simon shook his head, turned, and left down the hall without looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry but I'm also not sorry? feel free to yell at me on twitter @acornandroid


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to @becomegroovy on twitter for editing this for me! Also, sorry its been so long but we're back on track. Only four more chapters to go!

 

Chapter 10

_Hyssop_ _– A blue-purple flower representing cleanliness and sacrifice_

From his observations of human relationships Simon had concluded that there would be “ups and downs”. Humans fought and came to terms with one another, they had subtle disagreements that, if worked through properly, would ease away into nonexistence.

This did not feel like a simple disagreement, nor was Simon human.

It felt like a wall that was too high to climb over on his own, a test of everything he had learned about Markus and the sense of security he had fallen into. It left him with self-doubt and moments to sit wondering if there was something he had done wrong, something to push Markus away. When Simon backtracked through his thoughts he only grew more and more frustrated, unsure of where he had misstepped to cause his trust to slip away. Simon had never been anything but honest with him.

He rolled over in the bed and stared at the ceiling, frustrated with the stippled plaster and the empty spot beside him. That should have been a red flag within itself, though... Markus was a new model. A prototype that didn’t need to simulate sleep, or comfort humans into complacency using tricks and illusions.

Simon realized he didn’t entirely know a lot of what Markus was capable of.

While he had literally held the revolution leader’s emotions in the palm of his hand sometimes, there had been a mess of things about one another they had not spoken about out loud. Should that have been a warning sign as well? Or was Simon just mimicking the pattern of human relationships to give some sense to the contradicting mess of emotions he was feeling?

He felt stuck, wading through murky water and trying to see through to the bottom. All the silt kicked up by the drag of his feet made it impossible. Sorting through one emotion at a time was better than sorting through all those that contradicted each other.

Simon closed his eyes, getting frustrated with his own constant introspection.

Thoughts were getting him nowhere. Sitting on thoughts was what arrested Jericho in a standstill until Markus came dropping in. He needed action instead, and it was time he started taking them.

Pushing himself up, Simon slipped into his limited morning routine. It wasn’t the same as it had been back in their small apartment, but it was something. He took a moment to check on the lavender plant in the window, a ghost of a frown stretching across his lips as he saw it drooping. He was certain he had been watering it correctly and giving it adequate light. A turn like this was quite unexpected.

Simon pulled open the curtains and moved the plant back to place it on the small bedside table. It would still receive light from there, but hopefully it wouldn’t be as smothered in the sun’s rays.

Two fingers pressed into the soft soil proved it fine. This was fine.

Everything would be fine.

He left the plant abandoned for now as he finally ventured out of the room, certain he would find Markus somewhere in the small house. That was where he had been lately anyway, everywhere in the house but around Simon. Like he was avoiding him.

Simon would be lying if he said that didn’t hurt.

There were only two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room to check. Perhaps the backyard and the two bathrooms could be considered, but he highly doubted it. Markus rarely ventured outside of the house as much as Simon did. While he had seen the other android partake in open air before it seemed to be something of the past now, unless it was their current safety concern.

Not much held Markus back, so that point seemed highly unlikely. Simon filed it away in a section for discarded, useless information. That bin was getting rather full now. Perhaps intrusive thoughts outside of his programming were to blame.

The master bedroom that Connor shared with Lieutenant Anderson was another extremely unlikely scenario, as he had no reason to be there. Simon lowered it on his list or priority places as he stepped down the hallway and into the empty kitchen.

Completely empty. A small frown crossed over his synthetic lips as Simon observed the space. The only evidence of the human occupant in the home was the coffee, made just a few hours earlier. The machine was still warm and powered on, liquid still filling up half of the pot. Data suggested that Hank would be through at least three fourths of a coffee pot only two hours after waking. Caffeine seemed to be substituting a previous addiction, but that information was, again, irrelevant.

Today was Connor’s shift at the station, which meant he and Markus would be alone in the residential unit with the Lieutenant. Bitterly, Simon realized there would be an extreme lack of conversations he was not permitted to hear.

He dwelled on that information pettily as he turned to continue his search.

The living room was in fact empty, leaving the backyard as the only option. Having all the knowledge of the current unpleasant strain on their relationship left Simon frustrated with himself for not picking the least likely of choices first. Leave it to Markus to always be three steps ahead of him.

A more sophisticated android. An irritating quality that made him both a wonderful leader, and a remarkable conscious being.

The backyard was completely empty.

There was nothing but the chill bite of the air, and the small flower bed still closed up into tight, isolated buds in the early morning atmosphere. Simon felt an aching connection, the morning light and his temperature sensors alerting that it was below thirty. No bees to be seen, robot or biological.

The emptiness of the garden was something that rocked Simon to his processing core.

If Markus was nowhere to be seen, and the chances of him being in the master bedroom were next to none, then where was he?

They were not supposed to leave. It was dangerous.

Even if he had left then what stopped him from alerting Simon? Something as simple as a message would have done just fine. Even one as archaic as pen on paper.

Perhaps he was just with Connor at the station. That had to be it.

The words of the previous night echoed sickeningly in Simon’s recall centers. That message that had been upon the television screen, and the stone passiveness of Markus’ expression.

_‘I thought you trusted me.’_

_‘I do. I’m just keeping you safe.’_

Safe from what? There was so much unspoken that it nearly drove Simon to shut down. What was so awful that Markus had to hide it? They had barely brushed against one another let alone interfaced since they had gotten here. It all hurt, so much so he wondered just how humans managed to bare it.

Was it that Markus didn’t think Simon was capable? He had been leading Jericho long before Markus quite literally dropped from the heavens. Granted a position of power was not his first choice but the other androids had looked to him- as a caregiver, a provider, and a figure to come to in times of trouble. Simon assumed he had always been that way, programmed to provide comfort and assist with children. A comforting, welcoming figure cut and carved into being trustworthy at first glance. Programming with the advantage of something so uniquely _Simon_ that caused others of his kind to look to him without being told to. Now a second in command, who cannot even get the one of his affection to give him even a small glimpse of what was going on in that mess of his head.

Simon turned from the garden finally and made his way back into the Anderson household. He hadn’t come to a conclusion yet on what to do, or what even was going on this morning. Perhaps a blissful state of simulated denial— he had maybe just missed Markus moving from room to room. That had to be it.

Unless Markus truly didn’t trust him.

Without entirely realizing, Simon noticed he was now standing in the kitchen once more. He must have moved there on an odd form of robotic autopilot as he was once again immersed in internal debate with his aching simulated emotions. He found himself staring at Lieutenant Anderson who was staring back at him with his coffee mug raised to his lips.

There hadn’t entirely been a chance for him to speak to Hank alone, nor was there really the need to. Maybe he had been avoiding him? The thought felt intrusive to Simon’s processors. He liked to believe he was alright around humans now that everything was over, but involuntary cautious behaviors brought to the surface otherwise.

Come to think of it, he was only ever around Hank Anderson in the presence of Connor or Markus.

Simon continued their intense stare off for a few moments without realizing. There was nothing for him to say first, or nothing that he could get out of his vocal processors. He could ask where Markus was—he _should_ ask where Markus was. In fact he _needed_ to ask where Markus was. Instead he stood there, at a complete loss for words in what his computing system diagnosed as his first ‘socially awkward’ episode by definition of the phrase flashing across his vision.

“Jesus Christ, you could at least fucking blink—” Hank said finally, and gruffly too as the human made a move to take a deep swallow from his coffee mug and set it down, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. A hollow burp sounded in his chest.

Simon wrinkled his nose.  

What on earth did Connor see in this man?  

“I—”

 

“Let me guess- ‘don’t require the necessity to blink. The moisture of my eyes is simulated—”

 

“--Was going to say I forgot but go ahead if you think we all sound like Connor.”

Simon stared him down again, and Hank stared right back. The android pulled in a simulated breath, his chest expanding as he did. Maybe the current situation was affecting his handling of complications in the moment.

“Sorry. It’s been…a stressful few days.” He voiced finally, clearing his vocal processor.

Hank worked his jaw and nodded slowly, “No shit. That’s putting it lightly.”

The silence stretched, and Simon found it hard to construct any outcome where he could bring up other conversations besides the one burning in the back of his mind. The android looked up again and remembered to blink this time.

“Have you seen Markus?”

That proved a provoking enough question for Hank to finally set his coffee mug down on the counter. Which needed to be washed very badly. The mug, that is. The counter was spotless by his scan, mostly thanks to Connor no doubt. Simon guessed from his few days spent around here that most of the cleanliness of the home was now owed to Connor. Lieutenant Anderson didn’t seem like the cleaning type, at least not these days.

The android pulled himself from his household chore habits almost forcefully as he reoriented his attention to the task at hand.

**Objective: Find Markus**

He left it in the corner of his vision as a priority. High priority.

“Uh, no. I haven’t this morning.” Hank folded his arms over his chest, still leaning back against the counter. “Thought he was with you.”

Simon shook his head. “No. He hasn’t been spending much time with me lately.”

The fact hurt to admit, but Simon lifted his chin up higher.

“That makes two of us.” Hank muttered, looking away. “Connor usually has no problem saying what he wants, and a problem keeping his fucking mouth shut. Now it’s like he’s intentionally keeping his mouth shut.”

Simon processed that information. It seems he was just presented a common ground with Hank Anderson, which led to the opportunity to bring up other topics of conversations. Both of which were centered around Markus- or Connor. Simon vaguely wished he were thinking of a line of conversation that wasn’t just about one of their romantic partners. Huh.

He made sure to blink.

“I have the suspicion they’ve been discussing things that they do not want either of us to hear for reasons I’m not entirely sure of.”

“Yeah, no shit.” Hank rolled his eyes. Simon narrowed his.

Again, he really had no idea what Connor saw in this man.

“Anyways.” Simon remarked, somewhat dryly. He had enough self-awareness to chalk his mood up to the emotional response of the last few days, “Connor went to the station today. Is there any chance Markus went with him?”

Hank had picked up his mug again and was finishing it off. Simon had previously thought humans mostly sipped coffee, but the deep swallowing from the Lieutenant told him otherwise. “Nah. Got a text this mornin’ about him going to go see North instead.”

Simon’s frown deepened immediately, and he took a step closer. “Going to see North? Then Markus must have gone with him-“

He felt the betrayal like a sudden stab to the heart. Simon swallowed thickly, then adjusted his posture to read as surer of himself despite the situation. “Did she call him?”

“Not sure. Message was all he left me this mornin’.” Hank shrugged, scratching at his beard.

Simon took a deep breath, trying to work that over. Of course, North wasn’t his biggest fan, but they had worked together for a long time. He considered them friends, even. If he brought the last conversation he had involving North into play then maybe she had enough ill thought to sway her opinion otherwise. Different as they may be, he would have liked to thought she would let him know, or let him in.

Though it seemed she was all too keen on letting Markus in no matter where their differences lie currently.

He processed the possible routes for a moment before coming to a conclusion.

“I’ll contact Connor. See if Markus is with him or if we should begin searching—”

Simon didn’t get to finish his sentence, for Connor set up a link before Simon could even act. Oh, how he wished he had got to finish his sentence. If only the next few moments had played out differently instead of what occurred. He would give everything in the world to not have it happen again, to not have any of this happen again. Present as the fight may be he wished parts of the danger remained in the past.

“Simon. It’s me, Connor.” His voice came through, clear yet hiding something behind it. “I need you to meet me as quick as possible.”

Simon blinked once, and began to formulate a response- a question, before he was cut off yet again and chilled to the bone.

“Markus has been shot.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sorry

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/acornandroid


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